Sounds in the Dark
by Sleepyreader13
Summary: As Maddie walks by Danny's door, she hears a noise, one that might just alert her to the happenings of her son. How will she react to this new revelation? Revelation fic! Danny/Maddie bonding, maybe. Rated T for violence.
1. Of Walking and Finding

A/N: I know, I know, I should be working on Breaking Tradition, I can't seem to stay away! This show just has so much going for it, so much potential for fan-fiction that I can't help, but to write about it! Well, I hope you enjoy this one.

Multi-chapter.

Revelation Fic.

Pre-PP.

Pairs- Danny/Sam, Danny/ Maddie bonding., Jack/Maddie ( Just a mention)

Inspiration- I got nothing for this one.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- Nope, I don't own it.<p>

* * *

><p>Maddie's POV<p>

* * *

><p>I walked down the hall, blue suit uncomfortable in my exhaustion, footsteps echoing off the close pale walls. I examined the patches of moonlight let into the hall by the two windows, each beside a room. I smiled as I came upon the first space, and I missed hearing my only daughter snores coming from inside the door. I placed my hand on the knob, turning it softly, and stepped inside. The room was as neat as when she lived in it, every book straight on its shelf, every cover on the bed in place. The whole room screamed Jazz, right down to the pale pink paint on the walls. I smiled one last time, making my exit as silently as I could, and walked on, footsteps slow against the carpet.<p>

I came upon the next patch of moonlight, bright against the floor, and stopped, expecting the peaceful snoring of my sixteen year old. I had expected, as it was just chiming midnight, that he would be a sleep and dreaming, eyes firmly shut and snoring softly. I was sorely mistaken.

I heard the undeniable sound of wood on wood, a window coming closed, as softly as they could make it. My first instinct was anger, he was sneaking out, but something told me that wasn't right, even if it was most likely, it wasn't correct. A whimper, loud enough for me to hear even as I was wrapped in thought, sounded through the wood of the door. I felt alarm rise in me, exhaustion forgotten, the moonlight seemed like spotlight's as it shone on his door, and I pressed my ear, slowly and softly, to the wood. The sounds of clothing hitting the floor, a whimper of something akin to pain, and the sound of compressed bed springs as someone collapsed onto them. I swallowed, something was wrong, undeniably wrong, and I had no idea what it was.

My first instinct, the one I had relied on most in the past, was screaming for me to plow through the door, confronting the problem, whatever it was, face first. But, from my mind, a logical thought coursed, holding me in place. What if this wasn't a problem that was solved by tackling it head on? What if it was something complicated, intricate, something I need to handle with care? I had no idea of how to solve the problem at hand.

I waited, red hair falling in my eyes as I pressed my ear to the paneling of wood. I could hear the sounds coming from the room, a toss on the bed, another whimper of pain, and finally, a soft and quiet snore, barely audible. I swallowed, opening the door and stepping, thankful his door didn't creak quite like Jazz's did. I glanced first at Danny, but anything I could find wouldn't be found until he woke, his body was completely covered in blankets. I could see why, he was shivering slightly, and I couldn't help but to walk over to the nearest chest and throw a woven blanket sitting on top over his form. The blanket wasn't the only thing I found on the chest.

A t-shirt, torn all over, and stained with a deep red and a sickly, radioactive green, was lying on the wooden surface. I ran my fingers over the stain, but that caught, sliding into a tear. I extracted my hand, but it was covered in what I knew was blood and something green. The wounds had been fresh, incredibly new, and probably still bleeding. I couldn't help but to glance at the blankets covering my boy's body, and to wonder, what if the blood was coming from his torso. I felt my blood run cold.

I stood straight, walking over to his bed. He was on his back, neither sides favored, I bit my lip. I reached forward, hand outstretched, ready to move the blankets, hopefully not disturbing him. I caught the edge of the top-most cover, gripping it between my fingers, and I tugged. I never got the chance too move it off.

He thrashed, strong arms flying out, knocking the blanket out of my hand and my hands out of the way. His body automatically tensing, fingers clenched in a fist. I stood, not a foot from him, as he tossed, head turning sharply to the right, eyes glancing back and forth under his lids. His thrashing stopped, but only for a moment, because then he retreated, cowering back into his bed as his surrendering. An anguished look, something I never wanted to see on my baby's face, looked up at me, eyes closed.

The a word, repeated, amplified in the room. " No. No. NO!"

I felt the room shake, and I backed up as I saw something that truly shocked me. Waves of energy blasted through his room, shaking the window and causing pictures to fall. I backed up, only to race to him as it ended, trophies still rattling on their shelves. Massive amounts of power, radiating from my child, I couldn't, wouldn't, believe it.

I rushed to him, my hands on his shoulder's, shaking him, hoping to wake him. My hands, firm on his shoulders, only tightened as he open his eyes.

" Danny!"

Eyes that flashed a radiant, radioactive green.

* * *

><p>Tell me how I did, maybe in a review?<p> 


	2. Stains and Dreams

A/N: Here is the second chapter!

I want to say, I love everyone single one of you guys! This has been my most successful story, and I really just want to say, THANK YOU! I love you all, just not in a weird way. =]

This is kinda backing up a bit, I figured you might want a bit of back up info before I start with the major action. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer- I still don't own Danny Phantom, but I do own this plot.

* * *

><p>Danny's POV<p>

* * *

><p>The <em>Fenton Works <em>sign loomed above me, sending elongated shadows into the already darkened alleyways. I felt my eyelids droop, blurring the already spinning visage my eyes produced. I felt the exhaustion, the pain, ebb at my awareness. I felt my body drop a few feet as I struggled to fly up to the window sill, the blood seeping from my wounds staining the suit a sickly shade of green. I took a deep breath, letting the damp night air expand my lungs, setting my battered ribs on fire. I flew upward, hands catching on the wooden window frame. All I knew, was that Vortex was going to pay, and the price was going to be steep.

" Come on, Fenton." I croaked, barely audible in the night.

I willed myself upward, only to have my powers fail in my exhaustion, and two glowing rings of light, bright as stars, made their way to the ends of my body, transforming my body out of my suit and into my ragged t-shirt. I heaved myself up, I could feel cuts reopening as my ribs screamed in pain, but I moved myself forward, onto the sill. I leaned back, letting my head rest against the white wood of the wall, I could feel the blood and ectoplasm seep through the shirt, staining not only the material, but the wood behind it. I couldn't find it in me to care.

I put my hand on my side, putting as much pressure as I dared on the bruised ribs, feeling to beat of a accelerated heart pumping my unique blood type through the wound, coloring my fingers a mix of sickly green and the deepest red. I sighed, ribs aching, wiped my bloodstained fingers on my already ruined shirt, and turned to the window. I griped the top in my fingers, ignoring my aching body, and pushed the window open as quietly as I could manage. I slid it all the way open, letting outside light pour into the room.

I ducked inside, but my side caught the wood, and I couldn't help the whimper that escaped my lips as the wood grazed the already wounded skin. I clenched my teeth, biting back the pain that would send most screaming, I just closed the window, wincing at the muffled sound it made. I turned to the room, eyes raking over the familiar shadows on the walls, the clutter on the floor, the slight glint off of my brass doorknob. I walked forward, over to the wooden chest I kept my blankets on, examining the polished wood. I almost felt sorry for what I was about to do, almost. I picked up the material, trying to slide it over my body without rubbing the still bleeding gash. I got the shirt off without incident, hiding it under the blanket, staining that piece of wood too, and I almost felt sorry, almost. The problem, as it may, came with my jeans. I jerked my arms down, straight into my ribs, and another whimper passed through my lips, loud and clear.

I laid the offending, ragged clothing under the blankets, knowing it could very well stain, but not able to do anything about it. I could make it down the stairs without someone finding me, and I couldn't just drop it on the floor, they would attract attention like a neon sign. I laid the blankets back over top of the shirt, turning slowly, silently, back to the room. The darkness wasn't a problem, my ghost powers had taken that disadvantage away, I could see perfectly, but my legs, they were a problem.

I felt my twisted ankle give, sending lightning rods of sparks up my leg, and I staggered forward. The bed seemed a mile away, my drooping eyes told me a different story than what my mind knew, and I surged forward, hurt foot dragging behind me.

Not soon enough, I was letting my body collapse on the bed, a silent moan as I pulled the covers over my freezing body. At first, I fought it, the exhaustion, but soon enough I lost the battle, the won I was destined to fail from the start, and I let my eyelids droop into unconsciousness.

And, then came the dreams.

* * *

><p><em> I looked onward, toward the center of the park. Sam's hand was warm in mine, every one of her motions sending shocks through my fingers. Every time her small fingers squeezed mine, ever twitch of her palm, every twist of her wrist, I was aware of, and I was loving every bit of it. She dragged me forward, to a bench in the center of the small clearing. She looked back, smile wide, violet eyes glinting in the near moonlight. I felt myself smile back as I sat down, pulling her down beside me. <em>

_She leaned her head on my shoulder, letting her raven hair spill along the front of my shirt. She smelled like lilies and spices, her scent tickling my nose in a more than pleasant way, and I leaned down, resting my head in her hair. We sat there, completely content with each other's company, and I let myself smile. And, I could tell she was smiling too. _

_ She sat up, leaning against the back of the bench, and she smiled at me, lips parted only barely as her eyes, as deep as the rivers, glinted in a way that sent my stomach in my throat. She moved closer, her shoulder behind mine in a struggle for space, but she seemed to like the closeness, and I wasn't complaining, not at all. She leaned in, and I closed my eyes as her violet eyes slid underneath pale lids, leaning her direction. _

_ Our lips touched, only a brush of skin on skin, but it sent sparks of electricity through every nerve ending in my body. She felt must have felt the same way, because her hands met at the back of my neck, playing with the strands of hair as mine slid into her spice scented tresses. _

_ The contact, as heated, as wonderful as it was, only lasted a second. Then, the heat, the pleasant feeling, was torn from me, in a literal sense. Sam, hands still locked around my neck, was pulled from behind, I grabbed her waist and she held on with all her might, leaving nail marks as the unknown foe dragged her from me, leaving me clutching at empty air. _

_ I whipped my head around to face this person, this monster who dared to lay a hand on my Sam, only to find someone I hadn't wanted to see, someone unwanted and not welcomed. I was up in a flash, knees bent in a fighting stance as I faced my older self. _

_ He had Sam by the throat, suspended in the air, and I couldn't fly at him fast enough. I took of, ectoplasm charging in my fist as I surged forward._

_ The punch never collided, and I never wanted to kill more than right then. _

_ He had moved, lightning fast in the night, higher and higher in the sky, and taken Sam with him. I lunged again, this time getting within inches, and he smirked. I clenched my fist, ready throw every ounce of attack I had at him, but something stopped me. _

_ Sam, loosened from his grip, was falling, violet eyes wide as she fell. _

_ " Danny!" her voice was like a trigger, I flung myself forward, toward her. She reached out to me, hands grasping thin air, and I grabbed her, my hand stopping her decent. _

_ But, like last time, the contact was short, but this time it was bittersweet. Pain erupted on her face, sending tears into her eyes, something that scared me more than my older self, and she let go, disappearing a moment before I could grasp her hand once again in mine. _

_ I looked to Dan, his smirk more pronounced than ever, and I felt anger surge through me, I knew he was the only one capable of this. _

_ " She has joined the rest of your pathetic family. " _

_ I opened my mouth, but the witty banter wouldn't come, only denial as I fought the knowledge, knowing he was capable, heartless. " No. No. **NO!"** _

_ I let the sound go, sending waves of power echoing off every surface it could find, destroying the weaker ones, shaking the strong. A look, fear and anger, crossed his face, but then he smirked, waving cockily, and disappeared, leaving me in the wreckage. _

_ The space around me was still shaking, and I had no idea why. _

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes, only to find myself staring into the blue-purple orbs belonging to my mother. Her hands, squeezing my bruised shoulders, slackened in their grip, and I could see the reflected glow of my eyes in hers as she stumbled backward.<p>

Oh crap.

* * *

><p>I am so sorry I didn't put more action in here, but I wanted to put this up here so you know why some of the things in the last chapter are the way they are, I hope you don't mind!<p>

IMPORTANT! This story could go several ways, I was wondering if you could tell me how YOU thought it would work in a review? Maybe? Please?

I hope you enjoyed! =]


	3. A Bump in the Night

A/N: There's the third chapter!

Okay, I actually had no intention of putting a whole lot of detail about Jack in here, but his name popped up quite a bit in the reviews you left, so I'm going to try this out. I hope you like it.

I know that this is quite a bit of a replay of the last few moments, but this will help to move it along, so I hope this hasn't been boring for anyone.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- I didn't own it in the last chapter, I don't own it now. And, if by some chance I do come across the ability to own it, I promise you will be the first to know.<p>

* * *

><p>Jack's POV<p>

* * *

><p>The house shook. I could hear something like a wail, a yell coming from somewhere close by, and pictures rattling against the walls. I could feel tremors rocking the bed frame. I opened my eyes to find everything in the room shaking. I braced myself, sliding out of bed and onto the hard wood floor. I could feel the shaking stop as the drawn out wail ended, and I could only wonder what had happened. I stepped forward, slowly making my way to the door. I put my hand on the door, looking out at the moonlit hall, and walked forward, only to stop short.<p>

I could hear the tell tale sounds of someone stumbling backward connecting with something behind them. I rushed forward, to Danny's already open door, peeking in and expecting to see him asleep, unworried about the shaking. I was wrong, horribly, terribly, wrong.

The room was dark, but the thin shafts of moonlight filtering through his curtain threw everything into sharp relief. The first thing I saw was Danny, face pale and sweaty, sitting up in bed, but he was tense, pulling the covers up over his torso, scooting back into the head rest. His eyes, flashed bright green, but as I blink it disappeared. I swallowed, just a trick of the light, it had to be. Then a noise got my attention, the sound of a someone backing into something, and I snapped my eyes in the direction of the window. Maddie, was standing there, one hand over her mouth, the other steadying herself on the windowsill, eyes wide. Maddie, my strong, beautiful Maddie, had backed herself up into to wall, as far away from our son as she could get, and I had no idea why.

" Mom," Danny croaked, voice hoarse from some unknown reason. Their expressions told me everything, and nothing at all.

I could tell she had seen something, something he hadn't wanted anyone to see. That something had scared her, scared her more thoroughly than any ghost could, and he had no idea how to make it better. He looked at her, eyes wide with pain, but I couldn't tell if the pain was from seeing his mother like this or something else, and concern, and I knew that this emotion, the one most overruling in his eyes, was for his mother. I saw this, the fear on her face, the pain on his, the tense position she had placed her self in, as if she couldn't believe anything, and she was trying to block it out, and the way he had his body, caved in on itself as if surrendering to whatever came ahead. I could see all of this, but I knew none of the reasons, and I had no idea how to make it better.

Then, Maddie spoke, a shocked, scared voice I hadn't heard in a long, long time. " Danny, what just happened?"

Danny looked scared, of his mother, of her response, of her reaction, I could tell it in his eyes. His voice came out tense, defensive. " What did you see?"

" You were, screaming, 'no' over and over again. And something happened, when you screamed something happened, and the house shook and something powerful happened. And your eyes, your eyes turned green. Danny," she paused, softening as she walked closer, she sat on his bed, eyes growing concerned as he winced as she moved the bed. " what happened?"

" I don't know," he said, but I could see he was lying, his eyes shifted down to the bed, the thin sheet he still had clutched over his chest.

She looked at him, leaning closer. And, for a moment, I was glad neither had seen me standing just beyond the doorway. She didn't look angry, she looked scared as she gazed at him. " Danny, what _happened?"_

Danny glanced down at the cover in his hands, and he started fiddling with it nervously. Maddie saw this, and her gaze softened as she took his hands in hers, stopping his fiddling, and slowly took the sheet out of his grasp. He shot the room a panicked look, still missing me, and closed his eyes as Maddie removed the the sheets.

I heard her gasp, and I couldn't retain my own. His chest was bruised, one side a horrible shade of blue not natural on a human body. But, I looked lower, down to the top of his stomach, were a large gash, something like road rash, but much deeper than that, had been exposed. Maddie reached out, fingers brushing his side, all the way down to the still bleeding cut, and Danny whimpered, something I hadn't heard in almost ten years. Maddie brought her hand back, her fingers stained red.

" Daniel, _what happened?"_ she demanded, eyes still on our son's batterd form.

But, she never got the answer, because the window she had just been standing by exploded, a green blast sending glass shards in every direction. The blast missed my ear by centimeters, and I could feel the heat coming from the blast as it blew by me. The glass made a tinkling sound as it hit the wooden floor.

" Dad!" Danny yelled, and another blast flew at me, I dodged, but I wasn't fast enough, and the heated blast burnt a hole through my suit and reddened my skin. I clenched my teeth as I got out of the way of another blast.

" Jack, get down!" Maddie screamed, and I listened, dropping to the floor.

But, there was no need, because at that moment, someone, or rather, something, blasted through the remains of the window and into the room, metallic face smirking at us all the while.

* * *

><p>I hope you liked it! Tell me how it was, maybe in a review?<p> 


	4. A Smirk, A Blast, A Flight

A/N: I love you guys, especially those of you who review!

I have an idea to propose to you. I'm going to transition the POV's from now on, in the order of Danny, Maddie, then Jack, and unless something comes up or something happens to said character ( *smirks evilly*, you never know what might happen in a ghost fight) I will stick to this order.

Or, do you want me to do one, very long, chapter with everyone's POV in it. Granted, it would take a bit longer to do this, but I could, if that's what you guys want. I could do this several different ways, and I am open to comments. Please help! =]

* * *

><p>And, I was thinking, if Jazz was a senior when Danny was fourteen and a freshman, then wouldn't she be gone for this? At least, this is my reasoning for not giving her a large part of this story. Sorry for all the Jazz lovers out there!<p>

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- I didn't own it last update, I don't own it now...<p>

* * *

><p>Danny<p>

* * *

><p>His face, smug, smirking at me, made me want to punch something on a good day, but this had<em> not <em>been one of my best days, and he didn't know how much I wanted to take it all out on him. He was floating, barely a foot off of my hardwood floor, right in front of my parents, and he knew I couldn't do much about it, without revealing myself anyway. And, in a way, the idea would have been the best solution, if it wouldn't have backfired in my face, because there was no way my parents could accept Danny Phantom as a hero, let alone there beloved son. I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth as his smirk grew larger at the sight of my injuries.

" I see someone finally got you, whelp." he sneered, and I felt my eyes flash a dangerous shade of green.

" Get. Out." I demanded through clenched teeth.

" Not in your lifetime." the smirk disappeared, replaced by a cold smile, green eyes holding a cruel glint as he raised his arm, pointing a rather large gun at my face.

I threw myself forward, knocking Mom off the bed and out of his line of fire. My side burned, but I ignored it as I let my ghost strength help, and she was sent off the bed just as he shot, leaving a searing hole in the mattress. I trained my eyes on Skulker, letting the green flash through for barely a second, it would be a trick of the light for my parents, a warning of pain for my enemies. He caught the change, his smirk returning full force. He glanced over at my mom, who was standing up, and then to Dad, who was over by Mom, helping her stand. His eyes glinted dangerously, and I found myself stepping forward, twisted ankle screaming as I advanced toward the ghost I had fought countless times, hoping against hope he wasn't planning what I thought he was.

I opened my mouth, not really sure what I was going to saw, but I never got the chance. He turned his gun toward my parents, one of whom had their back turned, the other still gaining her footing, and grinned. He shot, but he wasn't aiming to hit, I could tell, but it still only missed singing my mom's hair by centimeters. Dad turned so quickly it blurred, weapons springing from random places on his jumpsuit, and glared at Skulker with murder in his eyes. Mom had finally gained her footing, and she followed dad's example, weapons trained on the ghost still floating lazily a foot from my floor.

" Stay away from him!" Mom demanded, her eyes burning with a rage I had never seen, one that made me fear for Skulker's well being. Well, it would have, if I hadn't been about to trash him as badly as she was going to attempt to.

He grinned again, cocking his head to the side as if she amused him, and then he swung his gaze toward me. He kept his weapons trained on them as he slowly advanced in my direction, ending up only a yard from me, a small (comparatively) hand gun resting, aimed at me.

" Like this, you mean?" he asked, never talking his eyes off mine.

" She said to stay away from him!" Dad yelled as he charged, a gun blazing as he sped towards us.

" Jack, Danny!" Mom screamed as she grabbed his arm, and only then did I realize how close I was to Dad's target. I swallowed, taking a step forward, the adrenaline pumping through me was sending everything into sharp relief, every shadow, every detail, I saw, but I saw too late.

Dad was running at us, finger poised at the trigger, but he never made it. Skulker sent a shot of something, ecto-goop it looked like, onto my parents, sending Dad falling to the floor, non-responsive for some reason, and Mom trying to keep herself standing. The stuff had covered all my parents weapons, making them as useless as a toy, and I felt fear enter my mind. I lurched forward, grabbing at him as he flew over to them, but my fingers connected with the cold metal only briefly, not enough to stall on much of anything. He swooped forward, grabbing my father in one hand and gathering my still struggling mom in the other. I found my footing faster than I thought possible in my state.

I felt my hands grow hot, felt the ectoplasm build as he stopped at the window, holding Mom so I couldn't see her, but I could hear her screaming, and I wasn't about to repeat any of the things she was saying to him. He stopped, letting himself descend to actually standing, and looked at me, joyous victory and a cold cruelty in his eyes as he smirked.

" Good bye, Ghost Child." he said, looking down at me. The he smiled, a cruel, cold smile, and flew out the gaping hole where my window used to be.

The thought of losing them, the pain that would come with it, sent me over the edge. I rushed forward, ignoring all the pain that came with these movements, and jumped from the window.

" Danny!" Mom screamed, and I felt the cold weight of nerves that what I was about to do settle in my stomach.

I changed, ignoring the faint gasp I shouldn't have been able to hear, the sounds of the night around me, and flew forward at breakneck speeds. I let the power grow in my hands, my fingers clenching as I aimed, and I shot.

But, my mark was off, just by an inch, but it was enough. Mom, still staring wide eyed at me, was sent hurtling toward the ground, but Dad was still trapped in the clutches of the enemy. I sped forward, catching her as she fell, but I could hold us both for long, and we went tumbling down to the soft grass under us. I changed, the flash of power illuminated our surroundings, but I only saw the tears running down her face as she scooted herself as far away as our tangled limbs would allow.

" Danny, _what just happened_?" she asked, a tear dropping from her cheek onto the haz-mat suit she wore and disappearing into the material.

I swallowed, and opened my mouth, but I was cut off by the far away sound of a cruel laugh.

Skulker was going to pay.

* * *

><p>AN- I really hope you liked this one, I tried to make it as original as I could. I haven't seen it done this way, so I hope you like it!

I am really sorry for the delay in updates, I wrote this chapter once, didn't like it, trashed it, did it again, didn't like it, trashed it, and so the process goes on. Anyway, I hope you liked it.

If you did actually like it, wanna tell me by hitting that cute little review button down there? You know you wanna. =]


	5. Terrified

A/N- 74 reviews! I love you guys! =]

So, you've seen the broken up chapters, so I thought I'd give you an example of the second option.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- I don't even own it on DVD...<p>

* * *

><p>Danny (I already gave you this one, so it's going to be really short.)<p>

* * *

><p>I had only seen my mom cry once. It had broke my five year old heart then, when all I knew was that she was sad and I could do nothing about it, but now, now that I <em>knew <em>the reason, and that reason was _me,_ I felt the heavy weight of guilt and a pain that only came with seeing the strongest person in your life break, settle in my chest. Her eyes were on me, not understanding, the way they normally are, not angry, not even disappointed, it was a fear that stained her usually motherly gaze. And, truly, what child wants to see their mother look at them like that, with the fear of the unknown backing them and the hatred of a foreign race fueling it?

The answer seemed written in her eyes, her tears. No one wanted to be looked at like that, not even a ghost.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so this was a bit angsty, but I figured it fit, considering Danny's constants are crumbling around him and all. I might do AN at the end of POV's, I don't know. What do you think?**

* * *

><p>Maddie<p>

* * *

><p>I knew what I was saying wasn't going to matter, not one bit, but I had to try. I threw every name I could think of at him, knowing my Danny had probably heard them all before, only to find his heart was as cold and hard as his metal skin. The warm night air hit me, and it would have woken me up of I hadn't already been on edge. I could feel the breeze through my suit, the smell of blood and summer nights floating on the air. The metal shoulder holding me in place stopped, his movements stopped. I could hear the smirk in his voice.<p>

" Good bye, Ghost Child." he said, moving himself so that he could glance over his shoulder at Danny. I clenched my fists.

I could feel the anger, it was there, and I was sure if I could get my hands on the ghost on the inside of this suit I would have problems killing him, just for messing with my family, but his words confused me. " Ghost Child," was the tittle he had given Danny, someone I _knew _didn't have any relations to any of the ghosts roaming our town. I shook my head, looking down at the windowsill under me.

The white wood, stained red, a sickly green on the edge. Drops of blood like tears on the wooden panes, a green, unnatural and unfriendly, spreading across every drop. I swallowed, the fear and the helplessness.

Then the warm air whipped around me, the surroundings blurring as the ghost flew. He adjusted his hold on me, and whether by accident or not, I was able to see my home. Danny, standing in the gaping hole that used to be his window, an expression on his face no one his age should wear. It broke my heart, the pain in his eyes, but then it changed. A determination, a fierceness, swept through him. He clenched his teeth, a testimony to his pain, a leaped forward. His hair was plastered to his skull as he dove straight for the ground, out of his two story window.

I felt the gasp leave my lips before I realized what had happened.

_No, no, no, no. He can't. No._ He couldn't be falling, there was no way, my baby wasn't falling.

I wanted to close my eyes, to shut out the images of him hurtling toward the unforgiving ground, but my eyes were stubborn. I opened my mouth, choking on my son's name, but he never hit the ground.

A flash of white, him suspended in air, a complete change of clothing, green eyes, so like the color that had flashed in his room, and snow white hair. I had seen this person a thousand times, fought this person on hundreds of occasions, this couldn't be my son, there was no way. But the look in his eyes gave it away, the pain and determination blazing like a fire. I had seen him _so many times, _and I had never realized. The shape of his face, the odd angle of his nose, the pride in those foreign eyes, they were my son's, and I had no idea how.

I watched, horrified, as his legs disappeared into a tail, his bright eyes growing brighter, and his fingers clenching in front of him as a brilliant green lit them. Then a ball of green energy came hurtling toward me, and I could only think that at least I knew who he was before this happened.

The energy blasted the ghost in the shoulder, and I felt his grip give way, the only thing under me was the ground too far away.

The ground didn't seem to bother my mind though, it was still racing a million miles a minute. _What about Jack? _

The question seemed to fill my mind, and I felt a tear fall, and I closed my eyes as the ground approached. I never hit. A strong set of arms wrapped themselves around me, saving me from the merciless ground, but the ground won in the end. We went tumbling, and a bright flash of light exposed my savior as my son, black hair, torn clothing, soft baby blue eyes, and all.

The way he looked at me, like he was more than afraid, more than terrified, made my heart break, because I was his mother, and he should never be afraid of me. But, he was now an unknown, and as much as I loved him, accepted him for what he was, I didn't understand this, and that's what I was scared of.

I felt the tears falling, and I knew they weren't going to stop. " Danny, _what just happened?"_

* * *

><p><strong>So, what did you think?<strong>

* * *

><p>Jack<p>

* * *

><p>I felt cold, like I was outside in the winter. A wind chilled me to the bone, a sticky something covered me, preventing any kind of fighting. I opened my eyes.<p>

A swirl of green, cold air, and floating devices where everywhere. I blinked a few times, sure it was a dream. It had to be.

That's when everything came back to me. Danny, injured, blood everywhere. His window, gone, only to be replaced by a gaping hole. A ghost who knew my boy, attacked my family, took me away from them. I felt my eyes blur, and I closed them.

Suddenly, dreaming didn't seem so bad.

* * *

><p>AN- I personally don't t like Jack's POV, but I really had nothing planned fro him until next chapter where he wakes up, again, but I felt you needed all three for this little piece.

So, if you don't mind, tell me how I did? =]


	6. Revelation

A/N: I am really sorry for not having this up sooner! Life has been crazy, but I'm sure nobody wants to listen to my reasons, so, on with the story!

I've gotten a lot of response to my questions, so thank you!

I've decided to do this my way. When it makes more sense to do all three POV's, I will, but with chapter's like this one, where all the action is best described in one mind, I will only use one. I appreciate all the feed-back I've gotten! Thank you!

Disclaimer- I don't own it.

* * *

><p>What happened last time-<p>

_Danny, what just happened?_

* * *

><p>Maddie<p>

* * *

><p>I sat up, untangling myself in the process, and watched him as he processed my question. I wanted to reach over and grab his hand, sweep the ebony hair out of his eyes, make him feel better, but I couldn't bring myself to, and I hated myself for it. He was still Danny, still my boy, I <em>knew <em>this, but I couldn't bring myself to believe what I had seen. He couldn't be a ghost, it was impossible, utterly impossible, but my brain couldn't find another explanation, logical or improbable, for this. And, more than that, he couldn't be _that _ghost. I had hunted that ghost, injured, taunted, promised to kill, Danny Phantom.

I sucked in a breathe, shaking my head at the obvious clue, if it was a snake it would have bit me. Danny Fenton, Danny Phantom, my son had never been very creative. But, I had to admit, it was much better than Invisobill. I felt a small, bittersweet smile tug at my lips.

I turned my eyes back to Danny, who seemed to be struggling to find words. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and took a deep breathe before looking at me. His blue eyes were too old for a sixteen year old, and they were directed at me, searching me for an answer to an unasked question. I attempted a smile, but it felt more like a grimace.

He took a deep breath, " It'd be easier to show you."

I swallowed, not really for sure what to say, so I nodded. He nodded back and closed his eyes, his mouth moved, but in the dark I couldn't tell what he was saying.

His breathing hitched and I automatically reached forward to grab him, but then I realized it might not have been a good thing to do and I pulled back. A ring of white light illuminated his torso, throwing his injuries into sharp relief, and then split itself into two. The rings moved swiftly from his mid-section, up and down his body, transforming the faded PJ's into a too familiar HAZMAT suit. I clenched my fingers as they cleared his chest, leaving a bright, incredibly familiar, DP logo sitting against the black backdrop of his uniform. They made their way over his shoulders, over his head, changing the raven strands into a startling shade of white. Then he decided to open his eyes, his radioactive _green_ eyes.

I swallowed, or, I would have, if my mouth hadn't been as dry as sandpaper. I felt myself blink, my mind not accepting what my eyes were telling me was _right there._

" Mom?" Danny asked, scooting closer to me, one hand stretched toward me.

I wanted to shake my head, to refuse the information that was right in front of me, but I didn't, and I knew I couldn't. I should have been afraid, maybe he had been overshadowed, but my heart told me that wasn't it, he was telling me the truth. I could've been angry, he had been lying to me for at least two years now, I could've been disappointed, he hadn't told us anything about this, but I was proud, I had seen all the good he had done, even if my mind hadn't let me see it before.

" When?" I asked. I wanted to know how long I had been unable to see what was right in front of me.

" Freshman year." I closed my eyes, it really _had _been two years. I took a deep breathe before asking my next question, one I knew would be more complicated.

" How?"

He flinched, and I didn't missed the way his hand went to his side as he did so. " Remember when you got the portal working?" he asked, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

" Yes." That had easily been one of the most important day of my working life, I don't know if I could ever forget it, but I knew that something else, something bigger, happened that day that I didn't know about.

" I, sort of, helped get it working." he said, looking back down at the ground under him.

I was confused, that much showed in my face, but the shock came underneath it, because he had never even looked at my work before.

" But, Danny, you never even looked at the plans." I said, the confusion swirling in my voice as it was on my face. " How did you help?"

" I never did look at the plans, did I? I guess I should now, though." he said, a hint of a laugh in his voice, as if he was amused by an inside joke only shared with himself. " But what I did was a lot more direct than rerouting wires."

I picked a piece of grass, shredding it in his hands with silent precision. Once the blade was nothing but a mangled mess of green in his hands he focused on it, his hand glowing a bright green and then enveloped itself like a glove. He clenched his fingers over the grass, holding his fist so tightly his knuckles turned white from the pressure. Then he relaxed, loosening his fingers and letting a white ash fall and scatter the dirt below him. I took a deep breath before asking my next question.

" You never did answer my question." I said, " How did you help?"

He dusted his hand on the leg of his suit, watching intently as it left a white streak where his palm slid across it, before looking up to meet my eyes. His eyes, unnatural green but still as beautiful as the blue, were concerned and pained and determined all at once. He set his hand down beside mine in the grass. I wanted to look away from his too old eyes, eyes I didn't want my child, my baby, to have, but I couldn't bring myself to look away as he whispered his response.

" You put the power button on the inside." he said softly, like a wind over the grass.

It took me a moment to realize what he meant, but when it hit me it hit me hard, hard enough to pull the breath from my lungs and every other thought from my mind. I was the reason for this, even if I hadn't taunted him, injured him, like I had, it would still be my fault. Ever cut, every burn, every bruise, scrap, gash, injury he had ever received would be my fault. I felt every sense of distrust I had felt vanish, it melted away as tears welled in my eyes.

" But, that much energy would have killed you." I said, my voice breaking more than it ever had.

He smiled dryly. " Or give you ghost powers."

" Danny, I, I'm so sorry." I said. He way he looked at me after that, that calculating look, made me want to back away, but instead I got to my feet, holding out my hand to him so he could stand.

" Don't be." he said as he got to his feet.

* * *

><p>AN- Sorry it's been so long, hope you like this!


	7. Shackles and Bait

A/N- Sorry for the confusion last chapter! I know I mentioned Jack and then I didn't even put him in there. I really hope this makes up for it though!

108 reviews guys! I love you!

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- I still don't own it...<p>

* * *

><p>Jack<p>

* * *

><p>The first thing I realized when I came to, after the shackles running around my ankles and wrists, was the smells. It was nothing like the open, yet acrid, smell of the open Ghost Zone where I had woken earlier, it was closer than that, more homey in an odd way. The smell was of old leather and animal hides, but there was something else there too, a sourness, something like the smell outside, but more masked. It was as if someone didn't approve of it, but had to keep the smell just because it wouldn't go away.<p>

The next thing, however, would have been the loneliness. The only sound was a faint howling coming from somewhere unknown. It was like an animal, soft and keening, and it raised the hairs on my neck. I was used to loud noises, guns going off, explosions shaking the very ground I was standing on, the yells and taunts of the ghosts as they made it their job to terrorize the town, and now there was nothing but an oppressing silence. It was a loud silence, the kind that presses against the ears and consumes the mind,

I tried to block out the silence, but it didn't work, not even when I started to hum to myself did the silence stop, and at last, I gave up, letting the deafening throb of blood rushing through my head take over my ears. Unable to tell anything by sound, I soon studied the things around me just by sight, letting my eyes roam as far as they could from where I was positioned by the wall. The room was almost bare, the only decoration being a single, mounted, glowing green horn, the only furniture being a metal table with no chairs, held by a single, thick pole in the center of the rectangular table. There was a window, narrow and closed, near the ceiling, and a door on the opposite end of the room. The rest was wood or a weird mixture of tile and concrete, and it did nothing for the eyes.

But, the next thing did something for the ears.

A screech of wood on metal, a door opening quickly, was loud against the silence. I looked to the door, now seeing details I hadn't before, like the scratches running up and down the otherwise smooth wood and the long stain of sickly green that ran all the way down the left side of the paneling. The sight made me think of what this room was for, and I shuddered at the thought of what had made that stain as the door opened all the way.

There in the door stood the hulking form of the _thing _that had destroyed my home, threatened my family, hurt my son, and I had never wanted to kill more than I did right then. If the ghost in the suit ever decided to show its face, it'd be sorry, very _very _sorry. I clenched my fists, my knuckles turning white, and pulled against the metal bonds, only to leave scratches in my skin where the metal rubbed. I glared up at the ghost as it walked toward me.

" So, you're the ghost child's father?" he asked, taking a step closer, his eyes never left mine, and the glint of victory never left his eyes.

I didn't understand. He obviously had the wrong person, I had no relation to any ghost, child or no, and I certainly wasn't its father. He had the wrong person, it was the only explanation to this whole ordeal.

" I don't know what you're talking about!" I said, keeping my voice low as to keep myself from screaming.

He laughed, actually laughed! I ground my teeth together, clenching my fingers as he calmed and then stood to face me. " You really are naive aren't you?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. I glared at him.

Then a thought seemed to come to him, one that hadn't registered before. " Or, hasn't he told you? Did he not trust his parents with his biggest secret?"

" I don't know what you're talking about." I repeated, my confusion visible on my face.

His laughing resumed and I had to stop myself from saying something that could hurt my predicament. " He truly hasn't said anything? Even after everything that's happened? Every ghost in the Ghost Zone must know his secret!"

I shook my head, I really had no idea what he was talking about. I knew everything there was to know about ghosts, or if I didn't, Maddie did, and something that every ghost knew wouldn't have escaped my attention for long. I narrowed my eyes at the ghost in front of me. " Who's secret?"

His laughing stopped, but a smirk grew on his face, one that was almost identical to the one he wore in Danny's room. " The Ghost Child. Or, if you want to get technical, Danny Phantom."

My narrowed eyes became slits, I felt my fingernail press crescents into my palms. Danny Phantom, a ghost in one of the worst senses, evil in a way and persuasive to the extreme, couldn't even be traced back to me, let alone be my _son._

" You're crazy." I said, shaking my head as his smirk widened. He flew closer to me, now only about a yard from my face.

His eyes glinted in the odd light coming from the narrow window as he started. " Are you sure? Are you sure you're not missing something? Something vital to your son? To Daniel Fenton?" I felt my anger well up as he mentioned Danny. He had no right to bring my son into this, but he was anyway, and I wanted to keep him as far from the topic of my son as possible.

But, it didn't seem possible. " Have you ever noticed him being around when Phantom attacks, or being bruised and cut up after one of the little punks fights? I've seen the Ghost Punk fight, shared a few blows with him myself, and he's too reckless to come home unscathed." he paused, smirking down at me. " So, let me ask you again, are you sure you aren't missing something about your son?"

He was talking about two different people, one a ghost and the other my son, as if they were the same person, but I knew they weren't. I had watched Danny grow up, watched as he lived, and the only times I wasn't absolutely sure what he was doing was these past two years.

Two years...

I couldn't believe it had been that long. I had taken up fighting Phantom and my job and I had missed almost two years. Two years in which I had no idea _is _Danny _was _friendly with a ghost, even a ghost like Phantom. The thought of it made my stomach lurch.

The ghost looked at me, green eyes glinting, the smirk coming back full force. " You'll figure it out soon enough."

He walked to the door, put a hand on the handle, and then turned to look at me. " I am the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, and you are your own son's bait. I hope you figure it out before I have to tell you."

And with that, he left, and I was even more confused than when he came in.

* * *

><p>AN- I'm really sorry if this is confusing, if it needs editing just tell me.

I hope you liked it!


	8. Healing and Gaping Holes

A/N: Sorry for not having this up sooner!

Okay, now that I have that somewhat out of the way, on with the story!

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- Do I look like Butch? No I don't, so no, I don't own it.<p>

* * *

><p>Danny<p>

* * *

><p>I could feel my healing abilities kicking in as Mom helped me to my feet, but I knew I was in no shape to fly off to save Dad. It became even more obvious when I started to walk forward and my twisted ankle gave out, sending me sprawling. I was able to catch myself with my hands, but that didn't stop to the jolts of pain running from my side as I jerked to a stop. Mom was down by me immediately, her face concerned as she helped me to my feet again. I looked down at my side once I was standing again, and found that there was now a splotch of red against the blue of my shirt.<p>

I looked at Mom, wondering if she would mind if I made this a little easier for myself. I was afraid that she wouldn't want me showing my newly shown powers. She caught my look and cocked an eyebrow at my inquisitive glance.

" What?" she asked me, her hands still fluttering in an attempt to help me in some way.

" Do you mind if I," I paused, not sure how to phrase my question." if I make it a bit easier to get to my room?"

She seemed confused, but she realized whatever I was going to do was going to save me the pain of what we were attempting and she nodded. I closed my eyes, seeing the flash of red behind my lids as the rings passed over my body. I caught the gasp as she saw my transformation up close and I opened my eyes, holding my hands out to her.

" Want a ride?" I asked, a smile in my voice despite the pain.

She glanced at my hands and then back at my face, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. " Are you sure?" she asked, her voice coated in concern.

I grinned at her, grabbing her hands and floating upwards, bringing her with me. I was only a few feet from the ground, but it was enough to see happy look in her eyes as she kicked at the air playfully. I smiled at her expression before flying higher, her yelp of surprise as moved again made me laugh, and she mock glared at me asI dropped her on the floor of my room before plopping myself on my bed.

I changed back and peeled the sock I had on my injured foot off, throwing it on the floor as I examined the injury. It was healing, yes, and the ugly black bruises were lightening into a blueish-green even as I looked at it, but I wouldn't be fit to do anything until morning, let alone led a rescue mission. The gash in my side wasn't any better, I had split the scab and it was bleeding, but I could feel it starting to heal. I looked at mom, apologies in my eyes.

" I can't fight, not right now." I said, looking down.

I heard her walk over to the bed, the springs compressing as she sat down. " I know, but your father. " The situation really seemed to hit her then, because her breath came short and shallow. " Your father." she whispered.

I looked up at her, " Mom, he'll be okay. It's not Dad Skulker wants. He's using him as bait, he'll be okay. We'll go in the morning, don't worry."

She seemed to calm a little, but only until my words really registered. " In the morning! You're not going anywhere! DO you have any idea how injured you are? I'll go, but you're staying here to heal."

I almost laughed, I had worse than this coming out of most of my fights. Pariah Dark had sent me to the _hospital,_ this was just some cuts compared to that. I would be fine in the morning. " Mom, I heal fast, trust me. And, do you even know where Skulker's lair is?" I asked, I couldn't suppress my smile any longer.

She opened her mouth, only to close it again, as she realized that, no, she didn't know where it was. And to prove my other point, I held out my foot, which was already turning to a lighter yellowish-green color. She huffed, knowing I was right and not liking it one bit.

" Mom, it'll be okay, I promise." I hoped I could keep the promise.

She looked at me, her amethyst eyes worried, and nodded. " Get some sleep." she said, patting my hand.

I smiled, looking at her. " How 'bout I sleep on the couch?" I asked, jerking my thumb at the gaping hole in my wall.

She let out a stressed laugh and nodded, sucking in a breath as I went intangible. I waved before I fell through my floor into the living room. I floated over to the couch and settled, hearing her light footsteps as she made her way to her own bedroom. I heard the door close softly and I leaned my head back on the armrest, wondering what tomorrow would bring as I drifted into a fitful sleep.

* * *

><p>AN- I'm not all that for sure if he heals _that _quickly, but I needed it to be this way to fit with the story. Sorry!

Big thanks to Pheek and KagomeKritin for offering to Beta for me!

I hope you like this, and again, sorry about the odd healing and the shortness!


	9. Restlessness and Phone Calls

A/N- I hope you like this one!

IMPORTANT! It was pointed out to me by IceDragon19 (thanks again) that I looked over something from the first chapter when writing the rest of it. Jazz was supposed to be in the other room, and knowing her, she would have come running at the sight of her house shaking. SO, that being said, I have gone back and changed a little bit of the first chapter. I would suggest going to read it, but if you don't want to, it suffices to say that Jazz is now in college and not in the house. I am really sorry about this guys!

* * *

><p>A HUGE thank to the three amazing people who helped me with this: Pheek, IceDragon19, and KagomeKritin!<p>

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- Nope, I still don't own it.<p>

* * *

><p>Maddie<p>

* * *

><p>I knew Danny could hear me, but in truth, I didn't care. I was trying to process what life had thrown at me in the last hour, and I wasn't coping half as well as I put on. I was the cause of my son's transformation, and to add insult to injury, I had hunted him, my own son. He was bleeding, battered, and I couldn't do anything to help; he knew more about how to heal himself than I did. I was trained in the prolonged healing of humans not the advanced medicine of hybrids', and if he said he could heal by morning, I would just have to trust him. And, then there was the morning, the rescue mission, Jack.<p>

I felt a tear slip as I thought of this whole mess. I was too tired, too ignorant, to find him myself, and Danny, as much as I wanted him to stay as far away from this as possible, was unable to fight until healed. I was leaving my husband, the goofy love of my life, at the hands of a ghost. Another tear fell. I would have to trust Danny. Skulker didn't want Jack, he needed him as bait, and he wouldn't do anything to harm someone so crucial in his scheme. His scheme, which only involved Jack as bait, had something to do with Danny, of that I had no doubt.

And that's what scared me the most. Danny had kept the details to himself. How did Danny even know the ghost? Why would he want to lure Danny into trap? Why would he even need to use bait? These questions, along with others, brought me back to the topic of my son and his ghost counterpart. I didn't pretend I knew all of what had happened, there was no way I would without extensive interviewing or actually being there through this whole thing. The unknown tends to scare me, which is why I went into being a scientist, but I had to suppress it, because he was my son. I was the one that caused this, I owed him that much.

The bed creaked under me as sat down, but I didn't hear much of it as I was still lost in thought. My son was a ghost, my husband was taken prisoner by one of my son enemies, and all of this had happened within the past hour. In a way, it was numbing to have your whole life do a 180 and then flip upside-down, but I was also sure it wasn't good for a person. Jazz would have some pyschobabble about how we would all need therapy after this was sorted out.

Jazz. She needed to know about this. But, what if she already knew about Danny? That would explain why she always defended him, why she always insisted that he wasn't evil, and I wondered just how long she had known and just how long she had been covering for him. It also explained why she had taken an unexpected interest in ghosts, and then how to fight them. She was in the cross hairs of all this too, and I just hoped that she wouldn't be affected by this. But, in the same sense, she needed to know. I looked over to the clock, and wasn't surprised when the bright numbers read a quarter after one.

I looked over at the phone laying on the dresser beside me, and considered. Did I really want another one of my children in the cross-hairs? Did I want to bring her into danger? Did I even want to tell her about it?

If anything else the last one was a yes. She deserved to know what was going to on, and then for the rest, I would let her decide.

I took a deep breath to steady myself before reaching over and picking up the phone. I dialed the number, but my hands were shaking so much I had to redo it three times before I heard her cell ring.

Ring, ring, ring. Was she even hearing it?

Then, in the fifth ring, she picked up. "Mom?" she asked groggily.

"Jazz." I said, not realizing until I said it that my voice was shaking.

She seemed to wake up fast, "Mom, what's wrong?"

"Honey, this is completely up to you, and I don't want you to feel-" I started, but she cut me off.

"Mom," she said again, an urgency and alertness in her voice that was absent a moment before. " What's wrong?"

I swallowed, "Your father."

"What happened?" she demanded, and I could hear her nails tapping against some surface.

"He's been captured," I said, my voice cracking.

"What?" More nervous tapping.

"A ghost, someone named Skulker, came after Danny. He took Jack." Then, my voice really did break, and I felt another tear slide down my cheek.

"Danny? Why would a ghost come after Danny?" she asked, but I could tell it was forced. She knew, and she didn't know how to cover her little brother for this one.

"Jazz, I know." I whispered, and a flash of light and glowing green eyes blinked through my minds eye.

"You know?" she asked, the utter shock in her voice didn't go by me unnoticed. " When? Wait, never mind, That's not important. Are you going after Dad?"

I wanted to lie, to say that no we weren't, but I knew I couldn't. " In the morning."

"Why not now?" she demanded.

"Danny's injured." She sucked in a breath, and then sighed.

"Well, good, not that he's hurt, but that you're waiting." she paused, and I heard the distinct sounds of wood scraping against concrete. " I'll be there in an hour, and then I want an explanation."

"Jazz! Wait-"

"I'll be there in an hour, or maybe sooner, I don't know. Bye, Mom!" The line went dead.

I dropped the phone on the bed and looked around the room, positive I wasn't going to get any sleep. And, from the rustlings down stairs, it didn't sound like Danny would be either. Maybe it'd be a good time to talk.

I got up and walked to the doorway, stopping to adjust a picture which had fallen in the chaos earlier, and traveled on. It didn't surprise me to find the couch empty when I made it down the stairs. I gave a tired smile at the sight of my son, black hair and blue eyes, sitting half a foot off the ground with his legs crossed, fiddling with an MP3 player.

Some things never change.

* * *

><p>AN- Tell me what you think?


	10. Road Signs and MP3 Players

A/N- I really like this, and I hope you do too!

For all of you wondering, the A/N in the last chapter could have made up for the addition of Jazz, but I also went back and changed Chapter 1 so this would work. Hope this clears things up!

A HUGE thanks to the amazing people helping me: IceDragon19, Pheek, and KagomeKritin!

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- I still don't own it...<p>

* * *

><p>She... She knew.<p>

I slung my purse in the passenger seat of my car and got in, closing the door, not bothering to sweep the hair out of my eyes as I started the vehicle. I pulled out of my parking space and started onto the road, hitting my blinkers and stepping on the pedal at the same time. I didn't care if they were going to wait until morning to go, I needed to be there as soon as possible.

Canterville College wasn't close enough, not in Amity, not when things like this happened.

I needed to be there, Danny needed me, Mom needed me, Dad needed me. Dad, who probably didn't have time to find out why he was being kidnapped, who truthfully doesn't know enough about ghost fighting to stand a prayer against Skulker, was at the hands of the hunter as bait for a son he doesn't know needs baiting. I huffed, the strands of hair dancing next to my eyes fluttered, and briefly wondered what else could go wrong.

Mom had said Danny was injured, but I wondered if she meant her definition of injured or his. I had seen what he had called "injured" and it scared me, to know that my brother took that and smiled through it, getting up to fight again as soonas possible. The images of my brother, battered and broken after his fight with Pariah Dark flashed through my head, and I pressed the pedal down even more, the trees on either side of the road blurring together as I sped past. I hoped it was what Mom called injured, for all our sakes.

But, he would go even if he was his type of injured. He was a hero, with a hero's attitude, and he would go just because it was Dad. I wondered if he had called in the rest of the team, and then shook my head, never taking my eyes off the road, because this was personal and he wouldn't want to drag his best friend and his girlfriend into something they shouldn't be in danger for. Stupid Hero's Complex.

A mile marker flew past me, and it was only in sight long enough for me to make out the silver 20 before I was past it and farther down the road. Twenty miles and I would be there; helping them prepare, helping them plan.

But, most of the time, we didn't plan. We winged it when it came to fighting, with the only game plan being to shoot when possible, defend when needed. Sam was our shooter, she had the best aim, as much as I hated to admit it. Tucker took care of most of the tech side, hacking anything that could be hacked and then taking it down with a few swift jabs at his computer. Danny was the leader, the major fighter; he was the one that held everything together, even when everyone else would have snapped. I was whatever they needed me to be, fighting with them when I could, covering for them when four was a crowd. It made me wonder where Mom would fit into all this, and just how good her acclaimed ghost fighting skills were.

It made me wonder if she was actually as good with her aim as she thought.

Another mile marker caught my eye in the blur, and a silver five marked just how far away from home I was.

Five miles 'til I got there, it wouldn't even be five minutes. We would prepare, but planning wasn't something we were good at, plus, it was something the Frootloop did.

I passed the first lights of the town, slowing down so I didn't run over an unsuspecting third shifter, and turned onto my street. I slid to a stop outside of the door, throwing the door open and yanking the keys out of the ignition as I got out, not bothering with my purse. I unlocked the door with my set of keys, opening the door and walking through the living room, only to come to a stop outside the kitchen, looking at an image I had only dreamed of. Mom was sitting at the table, hand resting on a coffee mug, talking to Danny, who was sitting cross-legged three feet off the floor. I faintly heard the words "210 miles per hour on a good day." as I walked in.

Danny look up from the MP3 in his hand, winked at me, and then smiled as Mom jumped up from her seat and at me, wrapping her arms around me in a bone-crushing hug. She smelled like smoke and coffee.

* * *

><p>Jack<p>

* * *

><p>The silence was back, but my thoughts seemed to keep the oppressiveness of it away.<p>

Why had he talked about Phantom as if he was my son? All I had ever done was hunted him, something I thought everyone knew; it wasn't like we kept our loathing private. But, the questions he asked, they made sense, in an evil, get-into-my-head sort of way. I couldn't find answers to all of them, which made me wonder to why he asked them, the theory he was giving me.

It made my head hurt just thinking of what he was implying, and on top of that, I didn't want to accept the theory he threw at me, it was just too wrong. My head was hurting, I had no visible way out of this, the metal bands chaffed my wrists, and I just wanted some fudge.

There was no way I could be bait, not to the person, or people, that he was referring to. It was just not possible. My son wasn't a ghost, he didn't need to be baited, it just wasn't possible.

* * *

><p>Tell me how I did, maybe in a review?<p> 


	11. Conversations and Explanations

A/N- I know that it's been boring lately, but it's going to get better and a lot more exciting, I promise!

Disclaimer- I still don't own it...

I want to thank the amazing, lovely people who have helped me immensely with this! Huge thanks goes to IceDragon19, Pheek, and KagomeKritin!

* * *

><p>Danny<p>

* * *

><p>I heard the door open, even though Mom didn't, and I looked up right as Jazz appeared in the doorway. I winked at her, and smiled as Mom saw the gesture and sprung to her feet to launch herself at Jazz. I turned off the MP3, even though I wasn't doing much with it in the first place, and smiled as Jazz peered at me over Mom's shoulder. Her hair was tied in a messy bun, one of the many indicators she had left in a hurry, and it fluttered in front of her face as she sent me a tired, stressed smile. She looked at me with a look I could only read as "How's it going?".<p>

I smiled and sent her my best "Fine" look, and I meant it, the talk I'd had with Mom running through my head again. I closed my eyes.

* * *

><p><em>I let myself float in the air, a freedom I only used around my friends when I knew we were safe. The device in my hands wasn't very interesting, but it was something to to, and I welcomed the distraction as I placed the headphones in my ears and started up Dumpty Humpty's <em>My Heart on a Wall. _The lyrics blurred together and I wasn't really listening, the images of Skulker's lair flashing in a quick succession in my mind's eye, and I tried to keep the image of my dad in the confines of those walls. I knew it was stupid, I knew I was going to have to face the fact that my dad was trapped, and I was the one that would have to go after him, but it didn't make it easier to think of. _

_ Through the blaring music and my scrambled thoughts I hadn't heard the footsteps making their way down the stairs, and then to stand in front of me. I hadn't looked up, hadn't even moved since I let my body float into the air, so the voice startled me. _

_ "Danny?" I jerked my head up, almost falling out of the air as I looked up to see my mom standing not a foot away from me. She was looking at me strangely, as if she didn't know how to approach, and I instinctively flinched back as I imagined experiments and tests. It was irrational, yes, and the hurt look that flashed across her face made my heart hurt, but I couldn't take it back now. _

_ I snatched the headphones out of my ears. "Yeah, Mom?"_

_ She seemed to relax a little and so did I, the muscles in my side screaming in pain as I shifted my weight. I knew I wasn't going to heal by in the morning, not a cut this bad, but it wasn't stopping me. I would be fine as long as Dad was out of that taxidermy and back into the safety of Fenton Works. I knew this was going to involve me showing myself, and I had resigned myself to this with a secure sense of nervousness. I didn't know if he would take it as well as Mom had. I looked back up at her. _

_ "Can't sleep?" she as me. I unfolded my legs and let myself drop into a standing position, my ankle sending little jolts up and down my leg, but I ignored it. _

_ "Yeah," I said, sitting myself back down, but this time on the couch, and patting the seat beside me._

_ She stood there for a second, looking at the spot beside me for a second before walking over and gently dropping herself into the cushions. She had taken her hood down, and her dark red hair was everywhere, tangled and wild in a way I had never seen before. She seemed worse off than I was, but I chalked it up to having very little, if any, experience with situations like this one. Or it could be the lack of ghost powers, I didn't know. _

_ She turned to me once she was settled, that strange look still in her eyes, and we sat like that, with her eyes never leaving my face and my eyes never reaching hers. The self __consciousness got me though, and I caved. "What did you want to ask?"_

_ Her gaze broke away from my face, but she answered anyway. " Who knows about, " she paused. "you."_

_ "Jazz." I wondered if she had realized this. "Sam, and Tucker. They're the only ones." _

_ "When did- When did they find out?" she asked, she hadn't met my eyes yet. _

_ I wondered if I should tell her, if it would make her feel better or worse, and then I realized I didn't want to keep any secrets, not anymore. "Sam and Tucker were, well, they were there when it happened. Jazz caught me once as I transformed, it was about two months after it happened, I was still getting used to fighting then." _

_ She looked at me, and the Twenty Questions continued. " Can I ask you something?" _

_I nodded, leaning back into the couch. _

_ "What happened with the Mayor? And the circus and the jewelry?"_

_ I sighed, even though I had seen the questions coming, it didn't mean I liked the wary way she had asked them. " I was overshadowed. Both times I was being framed. One of them, the mayor incident, was a ghost Warren, Walker, bent on putting me in prison until I turn to dust. He seems to think I break "The Rules" for fun. They aren't even real laws. The other incident, the jewelry, was also me being overshadowed. He, the he being the circus director, thought I would be a very powerful help to his cause. He made his money by overshadowing ghosts and making them steal for him. I had no idea what was going on until I was saving Sam. Freakshow's staff has that effect on ghosts." _

_ I had expected a lot of responses to this, sideways glances, distrusting looks, awkward silences, but what I didn't expect is what she did. Before I knew what was happening, she was hugging me. I bit my lip against the pain in my side as her elbow grazed it, and didn't even have time to hug her back before she was pulling back into her previous position._

_I opened my mouth, then closed it again, pretty much imitating a fish out of water until she said something. "I knew you wouldn't do something like that." _

_I sent her a small smile, and she seemed to take a certain courage in it, because she asked even more questions. _

_"Do all of our inventions actually work?" she seemed skeptical. _

_ I thought of all the numerous headaches I had received at the hands of the boo-merang and grimaced. "Almost all of them. Especially the Finder ones." _

_She'd seen the grimace, and I saw the questioning look she sent me. "I've had more headaches than I can count from being hit in the head with the boo-merang." _

_ She cracked a grin at that, but the questions didn't stop. "Are there any more people with a," she stopped, as if not sure how to proceed. " with a situation like yours?"_

_ I swallowed, not for sure how to answer that. It was Vlad's secret, not mine, to tell, but she was going to find out sooner or later. And then came the subject of Dani. I didn't know how to even _begin _to explain how that had happened. _

_ " Danny?" She pulled me out of my thoughts, still not sure how I was going to answer her. _

_ "Yeah, there are. You know one of them, actually." _

_ She sent me an odd look. "Who?"_

_ "Vlad Masters. He's really Vlad Plasmius." I said, watching her. _

_ Her mouth opened, her shoulders sagged, and I wondered briefly if I should have told her later, after she was starting to get over all the other weird I had dumped on her tonight, but she recovered. She shook herself, and then looked back at me curiously. _

_ "Who are the others?" she asked. _

_ "What others?" I asked, not wanting to explain the cloning after how she reacted to Vlad. _

_ "You said that I knew one of them, meaning there has to be more than one." I squirmed. _

_ "There's only one other." She kept her gaze on my face. _

_ "Who?" _

_ "My clone." _

_ I heard her suck in a startled breath, and then, far too calmly. "Why do you have-" she stopped, pulling in another breath of air. "How do you have a clone?"_

_ "Someone decided they wanted a powerful apprentice. I was the one they wanted to clone."_

_ "Who?" she expression was pained, but I couldn't tell from what. _

_ "Vlad."_

_ "Vlad?" she sounded choked, but her expression told of how she wanted to scream. I nodded._

_"What did he- How did he? What happened?" she stuttered out._

_"He took my DNA and made a clone."_

_"Danny, that much I know. But, what I don't know is, **what happened to you?"**_

_"Do you really want all the details?" The look on her face gave me the answer before I even finished the question._

_ "I need to know everything." She placed a hand on my shoulder._

_ "Vlad wanted a son, an apprentice as powerful as I am, and he knew he was never going to get me. I wouldn't betray you guys like that, and he knew that, so he found another way to get my powers under his thumb. He tried creating clones from just my Phantom form, he had enough of my ectoplasm to do that, but they all turned out to be failures, all except one, but I'll tell you about her later. I had to fight them, but they didn't stand much of a chance. They were the trap though, you see, he needed a sample of my mid-morph DNA," At her questioning look I explained further. "When I'm in the middle of a transformation. I didn't give it willingly, so he," I paused, not sure whether to tell her what caused some of the scars still on my body. "Forced it."_

_ I looked at Mom's face, and I was just glad the anger simmering in her eyes wasn't directed at me. She waved a hand, which I only read as to go on._

_ "So, he got the DNA, stabilized the one clone he had managed to keep alive and gloated in my face that I had outlived my purpose." At this, her eyes hardened. "The clone from earlier, she heard what-" _

_ She cut me off. "She?" _

_ I smiled, thinking of what Dani what say to this. "A mistake with the chemicals. I'm in too far over my head in this to really know __**why **__she turned out to be a girl." _

_ "Oh, okay. Go on." I could see the gears turning in her mind. _

_ "She heard that he planned to destroy all the faulty clones, and she got mad. The short version is that she released me and helped me kick Vlad's butt. We ended up destroying the 'good' clone in the process, trashed half of his house, but both me and Dani got out alive, so I'm not complaining. He used some kind of growth hormones on her." I looked at her, and disgust was swimming in her eyes. "She's about fourteen now."_

_"Where is she?" her voice was concerned. _

_ "With Pandora in the Ghost Zone, or with Frostbite. I don't know. She normally just wanders." _

_ "But she's just a kid." The hand on my shoulder squeezed. _

_ "I know Mom, but she won't listen to me." _

_ We sat like that for a moment, the silence giving her time to think about the child she had but never seen. I understood, it was a lot to take in. _

_ Finally, she broke the silence. "What kind of powers does she have?" _

_ "The same I have." _

_ "And what are all the powers you have?" _

_I'd forgotten she wasn't there when me, Tucker, and Sam train. _

_ I listed them off, and her eyes grew wider as I reached the bottom of the list. I thought she would ask me about one of the more uncommon abilities, but she surprised me. "About how fast can you fly?" _

_ I smiled just thinking about it. The door opened in the room next to us. "Around 210 on a good day."_

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes, only to see Mom holding Jazz at arm's length, fussing about the sleeper pants she was still wearing. I let my legs drop to the ground, standing myself up.<p>

It was time to get ready.

* * *

><p>Yeah, I know, it's just a filler... I promise it's going to get more exciting soon, but I don't want to feel like I'm rushing it. I also liked this scene. =]<p> 


	12. Talks and Phone Calls

A/N- I'm really sorry about this taking forever to get posted! Life's crazy right now, with school being beyond busy, and Volleyball (Go Volleyball!) season just starting, and recovering from illness, and it's just been crazy, and I'm really really really really really sorry!

* * *

><p>A huge thanks to the amazing people who helped me with this! Thanks to IceDragon19, Pheek, and KagomeKritin!<p>

* * *

><p>And, I know this is progressing slowly, but the action is coming soon, very very soon. =] This will only be about four or five more chapters, if that, so it will get exciting very soon.<p>

OH! I really want to thank every single person reading this, and everyone who has faved, alerted or reviewed this story, or me. You guys have no idea how much inspiration that gives me to write more! You guys made it to 185 reviews! 185! I love you all!

Okay, so, I'm done ranting now, on with the story.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- I don't own Danny Phantom.<p>

* * *

><p>Danny<p>

* * *

><p>Mom's fussing didn't last long; she dropped her arms as soon as Jazz had told her just how quickly she had gotten ready. It explained why her normally perfect hair was now in a messy knot.<p>

I walked over to where they were standing, barely even feeling the tingling of the almost healed ankle, and Jazz glanced at me with a concerned stare. I grinned at her. "It's healing."

She sent me a look like she didn't believe a word I had said. I just rolled my eyes. Mom raised an eye brow at the both of us. Jazz blushed.

I elaborated. "My injuries, they're healing."

"Oh," Mom nodded.

"Okay, how bad are they?" Jazz asked, not even looking at me. I huffed.

"I'll be fine." It was a lie. I knew I wouldn't be completely healed by the morning. My ankle, yes, but my side? No way.

Jazz only glanced at me long enough for her to send me another questioning look before turning back to Mom.

"He says he'll be fine, but if he were," Mom paused, hesitating on the wording. "normal it would take weeks. I don't think he should come with me."

Jazz flinched at my expression. "Mom, we're going to need him."

"We?"

"You're not keeping me here while you traipse through the Ghost Zone. I know more about it than you and Dad do together, not telling how well Danny knows it."

" Jazz," Mom sounded pleading, as if she really thought she could do this on her own. I had nothing against her fighting- she was an amazing fighter actually- but this wasn't her known area, it was ours. She didn't know what was needed to hurt each specific ghost, let alone how to get to their lairs.

"Mom, I can fight. You're not stopping me. This is Dad we're talking about, and I'm not waiting here while you go risk your neck for something I could have helped you with!" Jazz had a point, this could all get dangerous, and it could get dangerous fast.

"But, Jazz-" And again, Jazz cut her off.

"Ask Danny then! Ask him if he thinks you can do it alone. He knows better than I do!"

Both of their eyes turned to me and I felt like backing up against a wall or maybe sliding right through the floor.

"Well?" Mom asked.

I could see the way she wanted me to say yes, and it wasn't because she wanted to be right, to be able to handle it without help; she didn't want our help, she wanted us as far away from this as possible. But that wasn't possible.

"No." She swallowed, her mouth turning to a thin line. "You're going to need my, _our_, help."

She wanted to ask something, I could see it in her eyes, and it didn't take her long to voice it. "Are you sure you can help?"

I almost laughed. She'd never seen me actually fight, I'd always held myself back, never aiming right, and never, ever, aimed to hurt, she didn't knew what Jazz and I could do. I couldn't help the way my lips twitched.

"Definitely. Jazz and I are a team; we've been fighting for a while." She let out a long breath through her nose, defeated.

"Speaking of a team," Jazz started, sending me a look, I didn't like where this was going. "What about Sam and Tuck?"

Mom's eye flashed between us. I had mentioned Sam and Tucker once or twice, but never enought to really clue her in about them actually fighitng with me. She knew they were in the know, but not that they really helped. She seemed to think Jazz was bringing two untrained kids into this mess, and she didn't agree. "What?"

"Sam and Tuck, have you called them?" Jazz asked, looking at me quizzically.

I hadn't. I didn't want to get them involved, even though they had helped me defeat many other dangerous things. This was different that patrolling; this was purposefully going into the Ghost Zone to find a ghost, not flying around town. This was dangerous, and if I had it my way, not even Mom would be coming. Sam and Tucker were part of the team, but if they got hurt while there, I wouldn't forgive myself.

"No," I muttered.

"What? Why?" Jazz looked at me like I had grown a second head, but I had mastered duplication, so that was out of the question.

"I haven't called them." I didn't want to.

"Wait, stop." Mom said. "What about Sam and Tucker?"

That stopped Jazz mid-thought, and she stared at me. "I thought she knew!"

"Do you really think an hour is enough time to explain everything?" She made a face, but she knew I was right.

"Well, I figured you'd have mentioned your team." Jazz said, and then looked at Mom's still confused, and slightly angry, expression.

"Sam and Tucker are the rest of what some would call _Team Phantom_, they're actually more involved than I am in the fighting bits of it. Well, I guess that could change, us not needing an alibi anymore..." she trailed off.

Mom swallowed again, as if her mouth was dry. "Why would you have called them?"

I'd figured it was obvious, but maybe it wasn't. I didn't have a chance to respond though, as Jazz got to it first. "Sam's the best shot I've met, as badly as it pains me to say it" I grinned at that " and Tucker could hack the FBI if you gave him time. They've saved Danny's butt more times than I can count. "

Mom just shook her head, and then directed her eyes at me. "Can we do it without them?"

Truthfully? It would be sketchy, and we'd almost definitely get someone hurt, not counting the chance that we might not even get Dad out. I wanted to say we could, like I had been all night, but staring my mom in the eyes with her asking me if we could do this without them, her not knowing what any of us could really do, made me think twice. I knew the fight that was coming, and I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. We didn't need to take any chances, not matter how much I really wanted to.

So, following that train of thought, I shook my head, eyes down.

"Then, why haven't you called them before?" Jazz asked, but I think she knew.

"Jazz, it's, like, three in the morning." I protested feebly. I really didn't want them getting involved, I didn't want them injured.

"And that's stopped you before?" I sighed, _know _she was right. I still didn't like it.

"Are you sure?" Mom asked again, looking at me. I nodded again, this time she was the one sighing.

Jazz sent me a look, one that clearly said _I'm sorry_, and a sad smile, before turning back to the previous conversation, one I wanted to avoid.

"You're injuries. What happened?"

"I'm fine, Jazz, just a little cut up." It was a lie, I wouldn't be completely healed by the time we left, but it wasn't going to stop me.

"Alright, sure," I thought she'd choke on the sarcasm she'd coated the words in. "Did you bandage them?"

I hadn't, not really. I wasn't good at bandaging since I was normally the one getting the bandages. She must've seen this on my face, because she walked over to me and before I could do anything to stop her, yanked on the hem of my T-shirt, exposing the bottom of the gash before I could force the material back down. She didn't let go of the shirt.

"Jazz, if he says he'll be okay-" Mom started, but Jazz wasn't listening, she knew too well how prone I was to going out while injured, and she didn't like it.

"He's lied to me before, and I really don't want this costing us later." Not even I could protest, and Mom had that look about her that told you she was officially in over her head.

I reluctantly allowed her to uncover the gash. It had healed a lot, but it wasn't nearly enough. The bruises around it had faded into a yellowish color, and the bleeding had stopped, but it was still bad. The skin around the edges was red and swollen, it was still open and exposed, and the entire wound was glowing a faint acid green, barely noticeable unless you were looking, and it meant there was still healing to do. I sighed as Jazz sent me a glare.

"What? I told I was fine!" I pulled the shirt back down, effectively covering the injury.

"I've never seen you glow before." she said, looking back at the shirt like she could see straight through it.

"It means I'm healing."

"You glow? I didn't notice it before." Mom said as she walking closer to me.

"Yeah. It starts about an hour after the injury is inflicted, it's my body telling me that the wound is bad. My best guess is that its like adrenaline, where my ectoplasm courses to wherever needs it the most. I've only glowed twice that I can think of." I sounded like a textbook, but it was the truth. It had freaked me out the first time I had seen it, but then it had vanished, and I was left wondering if I had imagined the whole thing.

Jazz looked at her watch. "Danny, it's three thirty, if you're going to call them, do it now. I'm going to go get the bandages while you do. She walked off, throwing me her phone as she passed.

Mom looked at me, "I'm going to go help her." And she walked off.

I looked down at the phone in my hand, sitting myself back down on the couch and flipping it open. I started dialing a number that was as familiar as the back of my hand.

Ring.

Ring.

Then he picked up, sounding much more awake than what I'd have thought. "Jazz? Is everything alright?"

"No, it's me, Tuck, and you need to get over here."

"What happened?" he demanded, and I heard bed springs compress in the background.

"Skulker has my dad."

"I'll be there in five minutes."

He hung up before I could respond. I started typing in the next number, just as familiar as the last.

Ring.

"Jazz, if there's not a good reason for this, I'm going to kill you." she muttered sleepily.

"Sam, it's not Jazz."

"Danny? What's wrong?" she sounded much more awake.

"I need you over here, now if possible."

"What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Skulker kidnapped my dad."

"Now is very possible. See you in five."

She didn't give me the chance to respond either, and I shut the phone as Jazz walked back through the door, holding white gauze and med tape. I tossed the phone back to her, nodding.

"They'll be here soon." I said.

She sat down beside me, first aid items in hand, she raised my shirt back up and said, "Good, I'll hurry then."

* * *

><p>AN- I'm really sorry about this taking forever, and that it's progressing slowly, but I hope both of these will get better. Well, the last one will, not so sure about the first one. =]

And I just had to add in Sam and Tuck. =]

Review?


	13. Preparations

A/N- Sorry it has taken a while, but I'm hoping the length in this one will make up for it.

I just want to make a note on how much I absolutely LOVE you guys! I never expected this story to go so far, and you guys have made it to 204 reviews! I want to thank all you that have read, fav-ed, alerted, and reviewed! You guys are amazing!

And, for all of you who asked, yes I do play Volleyball. I'm a middle blocker! =]

* * *

><p>Huge thanks to KagomeKritin, Pheek, and IceDragon19! You guys are amazing.<p>

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- I don't own Danny Phantom.<p>

* * *

><p>Danny<p>

* * *

><p>Jazz started wrapping white gauze around my torso as soon as I dropped the phone onto the table beside me. Her motions were quick, practiced, and I could see Mom's eyes zero in on the way she was skillfully bandaging the injury. Jazz had been our go-to nurse for as long as she had known our fights contained injuries. I went to Sam sometimes, but Jazz knew more about medicine and halfa-healing than anybody I knew. You know, besides me and Dani.<p>

"How many times have you done that?" Mom asked as Jazz pinched the edge of the gauze and ripped it, tapping it in place. I wanted to twist, but Jazz sent me a look that kept me in place.

She didn't even look up at Mom as she patted the space beside her knees, looking at my ankle. "More than my fair share of times."

Mom's eyes widened, and I didn't know if it was because of the almost healed, yellow color of my foot or the way Jazz said it, the matter-of-fact tone that made it sound like a daily thing. I didn't think Mom needed to know that it almost was.

"So, I have a question." Mom stated, looking at my semi-bandaged foot.

I raised an eyebrow at her, "What is it?"

"When did Jazz get all this medical training?" she asked, watching intently as Jazz tucked the gauze into a fold and then started winding the medical tape around my ankle.

Jazz looked at me at this, a questioning gaze that asked me if I wanted Mom to know just how much medical attention I needed on a regular basis. I shook my head slightly.

"I get some practice, you know, when Danny faces people like Vortex and Skulker, but mostly it's my medical training classes. We have to learn to do stuff like this." Jazz said as she hooked her teeth onto a section of the tape at the end, a sharp ripping noise filling the air as she tore the tape and then secured it to the rest of the bandages. She could lie as easily as the rest of us now, and we were all grateful when she stopped turning a color to rival her hair when not everything she said was the truth.

"Oh." was Mom's only reply.

"I know how to do some of this stuff. I can't do half the stuff Jazz can or nearly as much as Sam can, but I can put band-aids on cuts and wrap ankles and wrists. That's about it though, considering I'm the one always getting bandaged." I said, slipping my socks back over my feet and then reaching for my shirt.

"Sam?" Mom asked, still watching as Jazz gathered up the medical supplies and took them back to the bathroom.

"Yeah, she stitches me up when Jazz isn't here. She's gotten really good at it, not mention her fighting." I said, slipping my arms through the sleeves and then sliding the rest of the shirt on, trying not to hurt my side any more.

"That's why we need her." Jazz said as she came back in, sitting in the seat beside where Mom was standing.

I leaned back in the chair and so did Jazz, but we didn't have long to sit there. I could hear footsteps, two sets of them, and then heavy knocking at the door. I smiled.

"Speak of the Devil," Jazz muttered as she got up to get the door. I laughed, sliding a hand through my hair.

I could hear the door open and then Sam and Tucker's voices coming from the room beside of us, speaking at the same time.

"How bad off is he this time?" Sometimes Tucker's lack of tact really surprised me.

"What have you guys been doing to get ready?" That was my girlfriend, always preparing.

Jazz answered them both. "He's a lot better than after Pariah, I'll tell you that, and we haven't done much other than patch him up and explain stuff to Mom."

Tucker's loud, "Huh?" was heard.

"Wait," Sam said, and I was glad that Mom didn't have my hearing. "Your Mom knows?"

Jazz must have nodded because the next thing I heard was "How's she taking it?"

By this time, they were close enough to the room to where they would be overheard by everyone, and they must've noticed this because they stopped talking.

Jazz came in first with Sam and Tucker right on her heels. Sam's eyes were quickly glancing around the room, briefly resting on my mom as they swept around before stopping on me. I knew my minor injuries were completely healed so she wasn't worried about that. But the the look she sent me told me she could see the dark circles under my eyes and the tired way I smiled at her, and they weren't making her feel any better. Tucker took one look at the crowded living room and then looked at me, giving me a meaningful smile I could tell meant that he knew it couldn't get much weirder for me.

He was right. My dad had been kidnapped by one of the enemies that could rarely ever snag me, I was laying out almost all of my secrets in front of my mother, who I had done everything in my power to keep in the dark for the past two years, and we were all standing in my living room at three thirty in the morning with me in bandages. It was surreal truthfully, kind of like a dream I'd had after the Reality Trip incident. Mom knew about everything, or as much as I had told her tonight; it would take days and days to tell her everything, and that's without questions and confusion about anything. I don't think I've ever felt this odd, and trust me, I've felt some odd things.

There was silence for a moment, but Tucker never was one for awkward silences.

"Hey, Mrs. Fenton!" He said brightly, as if he had just crashed here for tonight and this was just like any other night.

"Hello, Tucker." Mom said, smiling wanly at him. She might not think we could see the worry, but we could. It was etched in the way her eyes moved around, the way her voice wasn't as happy as it normally was.

Sam was the first one to say anything about it. "Mrs. Fenton, what are we doing?"

Mom looked at me, and that's when I realized she viewed me as being in charge of this one. She had seen how I handled this, how I was familiar and experienced with all of this, and she had allowed me to take charge. It didn't seem to me like it was something Mom would do, she would try to take charge, she would try to be in control, but she had let me take care of that. I swallowed; I didn't have a plan until we actually left. That was different, but we had two hours to kill before dawn and I still had healing to do.

I gave her a one-shouldered shrug. Sam raised a confused eyebrow at the gesture, but didn't say anything. Mom nodded.

"Well, we don't have a very detailed plan." She started.

I could hear Tucker. "You mean he actually came up with a _plan?"_

I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud. Sam was grinning.

Mom didn't seem to notice. "We don't even have a real plan, truthfully."

Tucker started again. "Now _that's _more like it."

Sam converted her laughing into a coughing fit while I bit down harder on my lip. Even Jazz was smiling.

If Mom heard us, and I had a feeling she could, she didn't say anything; she just went on with the conversation. "Danny knows where the ghost is, and we leave at dawn. That's all we've got right now."

Sam nodded, sent a smile to Mom, and then turned to me. "You up for some aim training? To kill time and all?"

She didn't know I was injured, and I had no intention of telling her. The more people that thought I couldn't help the better.

"Yeah." I said, getting up off the couch.

Sam slipped the backpack off of her shoulders and dug around in it for a second. I couldn't help but notice the way the light shined off of her hair, or the fact that even with her standing a good half foot from me she still radiated a warm heat, the kind that put butterflies in your stomach. She eventually looked up, extracting a sleek silver and green blaster from the depths of her bag. I'd never seen it before, which was saying something because I tend to keep up with the weapons that have the capability to kill me. She handed it to Mom.

"I've seen you shoot, Mrs. Fenton, but you've never shot one of these and they don't shoot the same way bazooka's do." Mom looked at the gun in her hand, examining it with a practiced ease. She seemed to like the way it felt in her hand because she held it up, positioning it like a pistol in the palm of her hand, and took aim at a spot on the wall, pretending to pull the trigger and actually shoot it. That's when she noticed the large Fenton emblem on the side of it.

She looked up at Sam, an accusing and curious glare. "Where did you get this?"

Sam blushed, biting her lip. "It was originally one of the guns you made that didn't work, so we took it from your _Discard Drawer _and redid it, or Tucker redid it, anyway."

The accusation disappeared, but the curiosity stayed. "What did you do to fix it?"

Sam shrugged, but Tucker looked up from fiddling with his PDA. "I had to change the way the-"

Sam looked at me and made a motion that clearly said, "Way over my head_"_. I laughed silently, nodding with her. We worked with the physical side of training and fights, not the tech part. Sam motioned to the kitchen and then smiled as I started walking.

We stopped just past the doorway, and I was just trying to avoid Jazz's pointed looks.

"How did it go?" Sam asked, glancing back at my mom, who still seemed to be deep in conversation with Tucker.

"Better than expected. She didn't try to rip me apart molecule by molecule." I said, watching as Jazz added herself into the conversation.

"Don't joke about that!" Sam exclaimed, her eyes flickering from my face to Mom and Tucker. "But, really, how did it go?"

"I think I scared her, truthfully." I said.

She looked at me and then reached forward and took my hand. "What happened?"

So I started talking. I told her about the fight with Vortex, how I had been injured. I had to tell her I would be fine before I could tell her about waking up to my room in shambles and mom staring at me as if my eyes had changed colors, which they had, and her suddenly knowing something was wrong even though I had kept her in the dark for years. I told her about how Skulker had destroyed my room, how he had kidnapped my dad, how I had to save Mom. Her eyes widened as I told her about how I revealed myself, and then about the conversations following. I told her everything, and through it she just kept looking at me and squeezing my hand. This is what I loved about her, even if I hadn't told her yet.

"You didn't scare her, you surprised her." Sam said and squeezed my hand.

That's when I looked over at the clock on the wall. The digital numbers flashed a daunting 4:12. We had been talking for over half an hour, time we could've used to prepare, to train. Sam followed my gaze and took a deep breath. She looked at me, her gaze full of a brave confidence that she never lost, and then sent me a small smile.

"Let's go find out how well your mom can shoot." She said as she started for the door.

* * *

><p>Sam had convinced Tucker and Mom to leave the conversation to later and then all but dragged them down to the lab. Mom's eyes had widened to the size of saucers when Sam had flipped a switch and the targets had sprung up, improved and decidedly different from the ones she had installed two years ago.<p>

Her eyes had widened even further when Sam started out the training, taking a gun from her bag and nailing each target perfectly. She clicked the safety back into place and placed it into a hip holster she had designed. I was glad we had improved the target, allowing it to absorb the energy from the blast without destroying the target. We would have had to replace every target every time we trained if we hadn't.

Tucker took his turn after her, taking more time but still hitting everything he was supposed to. It didn't take him three minutes to go through the targets, and it didn't take him that long to be back to analyzing the suits Skulker had used in the past.

Mom took a bit more time. She wasn't used to the way the gun shot or how it kicked back. She was used to a blast that could send you falling backward if you didn't brace yourself, not a bullet-like shot that would barely jar your arm. It took her a while, but we eventually got her hitting every target. She wasn't as good as Sam, but Sam had more practice.

Sam had kept an eye on the clock almost as much as I had, so when four forty flashed she saw it. She looked at me and then nodded toward the portal.

I agreed; it was time to go.

The Specter Speeder was easily the fastest way to travel through the Ghost Zone -if you didn't have ghost powers of course- so it didn't surprise me when Sam led Tucker and Jazz into the vehicle, and it didn't surprise me when they left the driver's seat open. Mom looked at the vehicle she designed and then looked at me.

"You probably know more about that than I do." she said. She didn't sound mad that we had used it without her permission, just matter of fact.

"I don't know about that, you designed it." I said, not knowing what I was trying to accomplish by saying it.

"There's a difference, Danny, in designing and using. You definitely have more experience." She was looking at the nearly full Speeder now.

I didn't have an answer to that, so I just nodded.

"Are you ready?" Mom asked me as she flicked the safety on the gun in her hand.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I said. I reached forward and flicked the safety back off. "You never know when you'll need it."

We made our way into the Speeder.

There was a swish as the doors to the portal opened. I took a deep breath, settled my hands on the steering wheel, and flew forward through the doorway to the vast, green world.

* * *

><p>And, finally we're getting somewhere!<p>

=] Tell me how I did? Maybe in a review?


	14. And It Begins

A/N- Hope you guys like this one!

I saw that you guys picked up on the seating arrangements in the Speeder. I know it's not the norm, and kinda confusing, but it has a reason. Not a huge reason, but a reason. Oh, and Maddie's in the passenger seat with Sam, Tucker, and Jazz in the back. Danny's driving. I know it's kinda OOC, but bare with me, please?

Ember/Skulker in this chapter, but it's just a hint.

This chapter jumps around a bit, but it's not too bad.

* * *

><p>Huge thanks to KagomeKritin, Pheek, and IceDragon19!<p>

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- I haven't, nor will I ever, own Danny Phantom.<p>

* * *

><p>Maddie<p>

* * *

><p>The sky was a deep forest green with clouds the color of acid, rocks were floating in midair, doors were closed and floating in the middle of nowhere. Green blobs could be seen in the distance, but they didn't turn toward us or even look our way. I should have been glued to the window, I should've been asking a million questions and wanting a tour even if this place was dangerous, but my attention was elsewhere. My mind was on my barely sixteen year old as he flew us through the strange world, and my eyes zeroed in on his tense hands on the steering wheel, knuckles white.<p>

He hadn't had his license for more than a month, he didn't even have a car yet, but he flew us along as if he had been driving this thing for years. He probably had.

Did it really surprise me? No, it didn't. He had been fighting crime for the past two years and trying to lead another life as a normal kid, driving the Speeder would have been a breeze. Besides, after the last few hours, nothing would surprise me.

I examined the gun in my hand again, tracing the lines of it with my eyes. The design of it wasn't the same as the way Jack and I had created it. Of course, none of our weapons were this sleek. The silver metal and thick handle would put you in mind of something heavy, but it was lighter than any gun I'd ever held and the tech behind it was amazing, even for an expert, and the fact that Tucker and Jazz had designed it was even more incredible. I left the safety switch off, and I had a sinking suspicion of why I might need it.

The silence in the vehicle was comfortable, not anything like it had been at the house while they didn't know what to say with me around. The only sounds were Tucker's quick taps as he typed away at his PDA and the sound of Sam's boot as it tapped against the floor. I looked at my son, not for the first time tonight, and took on all the little lines and details I hadn't seen before. The faint line right below his right eye, the little scar on his chin, the little spot on his cheekbone; I saw it all and couldn't believe I had missed it before. I felt the guilt come flooding back.

All these things were a result of ghost fights, a result of one of _my _experiments.

"We're almost there," Danny said suddenly.

I looked forward, not sure what I was looking for, and in the distance I could see an island, floating in the middle of nowhere. I couldn't make out any details at this distance, but somehow I knew that's where we were headed. Ten minutes, tops, and we'd be rescuing Jack; we'd be saving him. I looked on, and suddenly there was something flying towards us. A faint dot in the green sky, but apparently Danny knew what is was, and it didn't make him happy.

We flew on a bit farther, the dot growing larger and more distinguished. I could make out bright blue hair as Sam leaned forward.

"Is that who I think it is?" Sam asked, her eyes on the dot in front of us.

Danny had to have better sight than us, even if he hadn't told me about it, because his eyes narrowed and and his mouth turned into a thin line.

"Yep." He slowed the Speeder down a bit. "Tucker, take the wheel. I'm going to go deal with her."

He got up, and before I could even tell him to wait he went intangible and was gone. As he was flying I saw the two rings of white light flash around him and he changed, flying even faster until he was floating near the other form and I saw Tucker in the driver's seat.

I looked at him. "Follow him."

He nodded at me and we flew.

* * *

><p>Danny<p>

* * *

><p>She was just floating there. No electric music notes, no ecto-charged sound waves, not even the strum of her guitar. There wasn't even a guitar. She was just floating there, looking at me, waiting.<p>

"Ember." I said quietly, I knew she could hear me.

"Dipstick." she said, her flaming hair flickering.

"What's Skulker done to my dad? Where is he?" I demanded, noticing that she was floating so her body blocked the main view of the house.

She laughed, "Why would I tell you?"

I narrowed my eyes, lighting my hands up with green energy. "Because I don't have a problem destroying whatever is in my way until I find him, including your house."

I hadn't really paid a whole lot of attention to the house before, but now I did. Looking over Ember's head I could see the complete back of the house. The entire thing was brick, with one side having more windows than actual brick and the other housing only one slim window. Lights were on in random rooms, off in others, and trees grew all around the house. I couldn't admire the house for long though, because her hands were lit too, and her hair turned from a flickering flame to an inferno over her as she advanced toward me.

"I guess I'll just have to stop you then."

And that's when it started. She flew at me, going hand to hand now that she didn't have her guitar. Her fists were lit with a blue flame that crackled as she lunged at me. I dodged, watching as she flew past me, barely inches from me. I charged after her, but she turned too quickly, flying out of the way just as I would have reached her. She snarled, lunging for me again, this time getting a grip on my shoulder. I kicked her off before she could land a decent punch, but her flaming hand had blistered my shoulder and burned through my suit.

"You're going to pay for that," I muttered as my ice powers took over and the skin cooled.

She just laughed and threw more ecto-energy.

The fight went on after that, and I was vaguely aware of the Speeder inching closer to the house, but I couldn't concentrate on them. Fists flew, ecto-energy charged the air around us, making my hair stand on end, and lunges were coming closer and closer to where they were supposed to. Everything else was a blur as I dodged and blasted, never truly gaining the upper hand, but I wasn't losing either.

But then her fist got by me and landed solidly on my already burned shoulder. I clenched my teeth, sucking a breath in as I used her closeness to my advantage and grabbed her shouldering. I felt the cold flow through my arms and watched in satisfaction as she started to freeze in place. The ecto-fused ice surrounded her, engulfing her in its icy embrace and keeping her from moving. Her head was the only thing free, and if looks could kill, I would be a lot more than just half dead.

I let her drop to the ground below us and flew off to the nearest window. I had wasted enough time, Dad needed my help, and I planned on being there.

* * *

><p>Jack<p>

* * *

><p>I hadn't been able to sleep, and the chains around my wrists and ankles had caused the skin underneath to chafe and bleed. The metal glowed a faint green, and, even though they had been wrapped around my skin for more hours than I cared to count, they were ice cold.<p>

The window above me let in a light that turned everything in the room a light green. A faint howling shattered the heavy silence, but I couldn't tell if it was a ghost or just the wind. Faint thumps and loud voices could be heard from somewhere close by, but I couldn't distinguish anything about what was going on.

That was, of course, until a ghost flew through the wall and into the room.

I had seen her before, but only briefly. Her robin's egg hair flowed behind her in flames and her eyes flickered around the room before they settled on me. I wanted to curl up, grab a weapon, something, but I couldn't. I was the defenseless one here, in the lair of an evil being, standing defenseless across from one. I tensed, refusing to show any of the fear that had flooded my systems.

She flew closer to me and I went rigid. She stopped in front of me, a look of almost pity marring her painted face.

"This isn't just a game for him anymore, you know? You're son," She paused, taking a breath and exhaling, letting the icy air that smelled of ghost and old paper and leather wash over me. "he's avoided him for too long. Your son's the only prey he's never caught before. Did you know that?"

I didn't understand, my son had no reason to be hunted! They kidnapped the wrong person; there was no way I was related to Phantom.

"I don't like the ghost kid, don't get me wrong, but the dipstick is going to wish he'd never died," she said, looking at me like this should be shocking and horrible news.

I only had one son, and he wasn't dead.

"The only ghost kid I know is Phantom, and he's definitely not my son." I ground out.

Her acidic green eyes widened, her mouth dropped open just a bit, and she floated closer to me. "You mean he hasn't told you? I didn't think the dipstick had enough brains to keep a secret that big from his own -"

Another ghost, the one who kidnapped me, appeared beside her, effectively cutting her off.

"Ember, enough, let me do my job," he said, looking at her.

She huffed, sent me a look that I couldn't quite read, and then flew off through the wall behind me.

The metallic ghost smirked, showing shiny white metal teeth. "I see you've met my lovely girlfriend, but that's not why I'm here."

He walked closer, no barely two feet from me, stroking the hunting knife in his hand. I went rigid again.

"The reason I came here," he said, his voice cold and hard as steel, "is that I have a plan. Can you imagine? The ghost boy's father as a trophy! You're death would make him emotional, would it not? And, people tend to do very stupid things when they're emotional. I'd have two of the greatest trophies, the ghost boy's father, and the ghost child himself."

He still hadn't looked up from the knife in his hand. My limbs went numb, my thoughts raced, my blood turned to ice and started thudding through me even faster, but nothing could beat the images racing through my head. Danny, Jazz, Maddie, Vlad, they all flashed through my head faster than a racing horse, and a heavy weight settled somewhere in my stomach as I realized I'd never get to see them again.

And then a thought, fleeting and maybe life-saving.

"But, you've got the wrong person," I said, my voice stronger than I had expected, considering I was shaking. "Phantom's the ghost kid, right? He's dead, a ghost, he doesn't have parents, and he can't be killed."

The hunter laughed, twisting the gleaming knife in his hand as he stepped forward.

"You've got it wrong though, human." the ghost said, smirking. "The ghost child can be killed. He does have a family. The ghost child is half human, and completely vulnerable when it comes to death."

My thoughts and the images, sounds, time itself, it all seemed to stop as the metallic arm raised the knife.

"I, Ghost Zone's greatest hunter, will have finally caught the Halfa. Your son will make an excellent prize."

He had the wrong person, and he wasn't going to listen to reason. My son wasn't half ghost! There wasn't an evil bone in that boy's body, and ghosts were nothing but evil. He was my _son,_ there was no way he could be half ghost.

The ghost brought the knife closer to me, smirking.

In one last, fruitless attempt, I screamed, "No!"

The world around me exploded and the glass fell down like rain.

* * *

><p>Yes, yes, I know. I hate cliffhangers too, you know, unless I'm the one writing them. =]<p>

Tell me how you liked? Maybe?


	15. Shattering

A/N: Don't know what to say really.

You guys are completely amazing. Completely. Amazing. 244 reviews! I love you guys! I just want to say thanks to everyone that's read, faved, alerted, or reviewed; you guys make my day!

Special thanks goes to IceDragon19, Pheek, and KagomeKritin for beta-ing! You guys are amazing, and I really have no idea where this thing would be without you! They are also the ones that sped up the writing process, if not for them you might have had that cliffhanger for a while longer. =]

* * *

><p>Danny<p>

* * *

><p>I had peered through every window I had seen on the open part of the house, looking through the curtains and searched for any sign of neon orange. I had peeked into every room I had seen, every room except one. The window was high on the building, the glass pane short and wide with no curtains or ornaments. There wasn't a light on in the room, but what I did find was enough.<p>

Skulker was standing, a knife held tightly in his palm. Dad was backing against the wall behind him, defenseless and chained in a room with a hunter. Skulker's smirk became a cold smile, his metallic mouth moved but he wasn't speaking loud enough to hear through the walls. He stepped forward, knife extended, and I could hear what was said next.

It sounded like Dad was using his last chance at a cry for help, and it was a small hope in the face of what would happen next. "No!"

I was moving before Skulker could take another step. I felt my hands flare with energy and I threw a blast at the window, effectively shattering the glass, and flew into the room.

Despite the shards of glass, Skulker just kept advancing, and his knife was almost slicing into Dad.

I didn't have time to plan, to look for an alternate solution, and I didn't really want to. I slammed down into the room; arms extended, and grabbed Skulker as his shining knife came within inches of Dad's skin. I pushed him backward, using my flight to add in the power of the shove as I forced him back away from Dad.

"Come to save your father, ghost brat?" he taunted, managing to throw one of my arms off with his empty hand.

I'm known for my small talk. Witty banter, playful and taunting blasts, never truly harming a ghost unless they're actually causing destruction to the town or the people; it's what the ghosts know me as. I rough them up, capture them in the thermos, and send them back to their dimension with a sarcastic remark that's just bound to be a massive ego deflate for anyone on the receiving end. I like to be flashy, I like to have a bit of fun while I'm fighting; it's what makes the sleepless nights and judging people worth it.

Not today. Not when my family's been involved. That's just a line you don't cross and come back unscathed.

I didn't hold back. I didn't even worry about the wickedly sharp, ecto-infused blade in his hand. I just fought, letting the instincts I'd developed over the years guide me as I drove him farther away from my dad.

I felt the whole room shake and felt plaster settle into my hair and fall in chunks on my body. The floor under me cracked and the walls rumbled. I heard the door to the room open, and I caught the sight of Sam rushing into the room out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't shift my focus to them.

"Not in the mood to talk, huh, punk?" Skulker laughed, punching at me.

"Not really," I growled out, grabbing his wrist before the hit could land, twisting as I slammed him into the wall.

"Jack!" Mom yelled. Skulker laughed, shoving me off and aiming the gun on his wrist at them.

I saw green. Everything had that neon tint to it. I got to my feet, floating as I regained balance. I could feel the burning energy forming in my hands. The air sizzling around my palms as the energy formed blasts, and I shot them at the gun. I smirked as the metal melted, rendering the weapons harmless, but he wouldn't be deterred.

He came after me.

I had the time to throw a blast at him before he hit me, but it didn't seem to slow him down. His metal fist connected with my jaw, and I was thrown backward. I could feel it starting to bruise, the whole side of my face throbbing, and for a second I was counting stars. He didn't stop, flying at me again, and I barely had enough time to roll out of the way. I could hear clinks of metal behind me, and I could only assume it was Sam using her lock picking abilities to get Dad free as I rolled again to dodge a kick.

I jumped upward, flying just enough to get me upright, and faced him. He smirked, his only movement was the slight twitch of his arm that told me he had a gun pointed at me. I let my hands flare again, my feet lifting off the ground as I braced myself.

"Boss told me to capture them both," he said, smirking. "And then to kill the one in orange. I figured I'd keep him alive until you got here, and then I'd have all of you. I think he'll be pleased."

I heard a snap as the gun cocked, and only then did I realize where I was standing. My back was to my parents, one of which was still mostly chained to a wall, completely immobile, and the other had her back to us, helping free Dad. I was the only thing standing in the way of my parents and an ecto-charged blast. I had to distract him before he realized it too, and my flashy side smiled at the opportunity to banter.

"I didn't know you went back to needing a boss, Skulker. I didn't know you were that out of practice." I said, glancing down at the gun. "Who is it, anyway? The Box Ghost?"

He growled, tilting his head, "Now, why would I tell you, whelp?"

My eyes searched for the hinge connecting his helmet to his body. I knew this was going to take way too long if I didn't find it soon, considering I wasn't actually damaging him, just his armor. I knew he upgraded, moving the hinge from the open spot on the back of his neck to somewhere else, but I didn't know it was going to be in the place it was. He really was getting smarter. My eyes zeroed in on his movement when he lifted his head and smirked, unknowingly showing the hinge that was placed just under his chin.

I didn't realize what he was smirking for until I had to lunge out of the way of a blast and watch as it burnt a hole beside my mom's head.

I charged forward again, powering my hands as I punched him, hard, right in the face. I watched, satisfied, as his head snapped back, but it didn't last long. He was fast, a whole lot faster than I gave him credit for, and his recovery came within seconds, bringing with it a punch aimed at the chest. I dodged, hissing when he clipped my burnt shoulder, and sent a fiery blast up at his shoulder joints. I smiled as I saw the hinge melt, locking his left arm in that position.

He yelled, and I used the time to force myself back on my feet.

"So, is it Boxy you're working for?" I taunted, smirking as he tried to move his locked arm. "You seem about the same level."

He growled, forgetting about his arm and coming after me one-handed. I lunged to the side, bending so his fist hit open air, and laughed as I caught the hand, forming a blast quickly and allowing it to melt the hinges connecting his fingers. He jerked the limb back, and I laughed as he clenched his teeth.

"You'll pay for that, punk." He growled.

That's when I had my chance. He raised his locked fist, the metal of is hand still burning, and I caught a perfect look of the hinge protecting him. If I timed it right, I could hit that hinge and suck him into a thermos, but only if I timed it right, and I'd have to let him hit me. I could see him smirk as I pulled my hand behind my back and grabbed the Fenton thermos, saw him actually grin as his fist came closer to my body, and then it was my turn to grin as I forced my free hand upward and unlocked the helmet from the body.

I didn't realize how fast that grin would change.

I got the helmet off, that much I achieved, and I even got the lid off the thermos, but his hit landed somewhere besides where it was aimed. I felt the heated metal fist ram into my side, the bandages under my suit tearing as the scabs did and I felt something warm start to run down my side. Tearing and ripping, it felt as though my skin was coming apart, and I almost lost it right there.

I couldn't let it stop me; I couldn't let him get to Dad and Mom.

I aimed the thermos at the little green blob that fell out of the suit and sucked him up, slapping the cap back on as my vision started to fade.

I pushed the suit way from me, turning to face my family.

I felt the blood on my skin even before I clamped my fingers over it to have them come way that unnatural mixture of green and red. I watched as Sam saw me first, my knees going weak even before she shouted my name. Mom came running next, Jazz and Tucker right on her heels. I felt my knees give out, and the floor came up to meet me as they rushed to me.

I could hear their voices, all of them at once. Dad was shouting "Phantom" and Sam and Mom were calling my name, but I couldn't see anything more than a blur of color. Reds and blues and purples and oranges ran together as they hovered over me, their voices fading in and out.

I felt my head roll to the side, and I clamped my fingers back over the reopened gash, trying not to feel the mind-numbing pain.

The voices dimmed for a second, and then my head cleared just enough me to hear a gasp, one that seemed to contain the whole world's emotion. Then my vision came back, if only for a second, and I looked up to see Dad looking down at me, his blue eyes wide.

"Danny?" He said, his voice shaking. "No, Danny. Danny!"

And I closed my eyes.

* * *

><p>And, yes, I did it again. =] Tell me what you think?<p> 


	16. Spinning

A/N- Thanks for all the feedback, you guys are amazing! 275!

* * *

><p>Okay, from the mixed responses coming from you guys, I have a feeling that some of you won't like what I did - with Danny or Jack. I do, however, plan on posting another story, with the exact opposite response, if you guys want me to. It WILL NOT be an alternate ending, it will be a whole new story. It will probably also be a crossover. It won't be right after this story has ended, I plan on actually planning for the next one, not writing as I go as I have with Sound in the Dark.<p>

I'll put up a poll, you can vote if you want to.

* * *

><p>I have amazing beta's. Huge thanks goes to IceDragon19, Pheek, and KagomeKritin! =]<p>

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- (Yes, I realize I forgot it last time. Sorry.) No, I don't own Danny.<p>

* * *

><p>ParkerAA- Okay, I could write longer chapters, but it would then take me forever to get them out. I could take months and months to update, which would anger everyone else, and write longer chapters which it seems would only satisfy you, or I could write and publish as I get it done, which seems to work at the moment. If you don't like "this short crap" that I write, don't read it.<p>

* * *

><p>I ran behind her, staring wide-eyed at the pool of blood growing around Phantom. It didn't make sense, ghosts don't bleed. Their ectoplasm flows like blood, but it's a radioactive green, not this swirling mixture of crimson and acid. It wasn't supposed to harm them like that; they weren't supposed to be this injured by a slice.<p>

"Danny!" Maddie shouted, hitting her knees beside the ghost. "No! Danny, you need to focus. No, stay with me Danny!"

Danny? Since when was _he_ Danny?

Her hands fluttered around the large gash in his uniform, removing a small part of the burnt and torn material but not really doing anything effective. She had that worried look on her face, the one that I always saw when Jazz came home mad or Danny came home late with another bruise or cut.

She always gave them that same look, and it was a look I had never seen directed at anyone else.

Sam slid to the floor beside Maddie, pushing Maddie's hands away from Phantom and replacing them with her own. Maddie gaped at her, but it didn't seem to bother Sam as she reached beside her and grabbed a pair of scissors from her black bag. Her hands grabbed the edges of the uniform and pulled, quickly cutting away the material, and not even flinching as her hands were coated in the unnatural 'blood'.

Why was Sam even here? How did she know about all this?

She continued to cut away the ruined clothing until Phantom's head lulled to the side.

"Danny!" she said, her eyes concerned as his drooped. "Stay with me. Come on Danny, stay with us."

I'd never seen Sam be that protective over anyone, except maybe my Danny. Maddie reached into the bag beside Sam and pulled out a roll of gauze, sitting it beside Sam as Sam tentatively started to pull at the torn bandages around Phantom's ribs. He automatically clamped his hand on it when the bandages were off, but I caught a quick glimpse first.

A large gash, something akin to road rash, but it was deeper and bruised, sat beneath the fabric, right at the top of his stomach.

I blinked: the world spun, and the truth came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks.

The almost identical injuries, the unexplained kidnapping tonight and the scraps, bruises, and lies he had sprouted to us for two years, this explained it. What that ghost had said about him being my son and being half ghost, how the other one asked how I hadn't known; it all made sense.

If I was right, my son was a ghost, and I had been hunting him for the past two years.

I watched as his eyes focused on me, his expression pained and confused. I'd seen that look so many times when he was younger, when he'd fallen and scraped his knees or something would happen and we didn't have an automatic answer for it. It was familiar, even if I hadn't seen it in years, and it was just so _Danny._

I took a step; forward almost automatically, and looked down at him, really and truly looked at him for the first time.

The face had the same bone structure as Danny, the same curve of his jaw and high cheek bones. My eyes and Maddie's lips, and the same scar ran under his left ear. Even under the pain and ghostly aura, he looked like Danny; exactly like Danny.

I had to know. I had to know if I was right and the person bleeding on the ground next to me was my son.

Even if I had no idea what I'd do if he was.

"Danny?" I asked, my voice shaking as his eyes widened in surprise and his lips eased from the pained scowl. He seemed to realize I knew, because at that moment his eyes started to shut. I didn't even notice that Maddie and Sam had backed up until I was standing over top of him, willing him to stay awake. "No, Danny. Danny!"

He closed his eyes, and then he _changed._

Two bright rings of light traveled to the opposite ends of his body. They were bright, fluorescent almost, and completely unnatural, and they transformed him as they went. The ruined uniform turned into familiar blue pajamas, his arms becoming bare and showing off a whole new set of bruises, his boots turned to mix-matched socks, and his hair went from a brilliant white to jet black. I already knew that if he opened his eyes, they'd be bright blue.

I stumbled backward, and Sam used the space to get close to him and start the bandaging again. Maddie stood, her eyes never leaving Danny, and backed up to stand next to me. I looked at her; at the worried yet unsurprised face, the tired eyes, and the stance that suggested that her world was being flipped around too fast for her to catch up. She finally broke her gaze from Danny and turned it to me.

I didn't know what to say, and in all honesty, I didn't know what to think.

I looked at Maddie, sure she'd have something to comment on, some sage piece of advice I hadn't thought of that might make everything alright. She never had the chance to say anything though because at that moment Tucker decided to say something.

"We need to get out of here," he yelled. "You know, _before_Ember comes back."

I needed to think; I needed to sort out everything and get it all straight in my mind and figure out what I thought about all this, but I wasn't going to get the chance right now.


	17. Darkness and Realizations

A/N- I'm not telling you anything about this chapter at the moment, you'll just have to wait and read it at the bottom. It'd give something away if I started talking now... =]

I will, however, say that I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get my lazy butt in gear... Well, enjoy this chapter!

And, many many thanks goes to KagomeKritin, Pheek, and IceDragon19 for beta-ing this!

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- I don't own Danny Phantom...<p>

* * *

><p>Danny<p>

* * *

><p>Darkness, a black that encompassed everything he knew. All knowledge left his mind, memories were dark and blurry and unwanted.<p>

Numbness, there wasn't any kind of pain or twinge in his body. He felt no desire to change this.

Cool pleasant sensations, like a breeze blowing over warm skin.

It was bliss, and he never wanted to move, ever.

He knew he was slipping, slipping. He knew he was slipping away. Going away.

Then there was a scream, so familiar, so distressed.

He remembered the voice. Sam. She sounded like she was calling for him, and if he could see he knew he'd find her violet eyes scared and filled with tears. He could almost feel her soft hands in his, like in his distant memories, her lips on his. Her voice sounded like she was crying, or would be, and he never, _never,_ wanted to make her cry. The yell pulled him from slipping, pulled him from that blissful away.

Now there was light, blinding white hot light that scorched his eyes even through his lids.

And pain, so much pain. Mind boggling, nerve fraying pain that made him want to thrash and yell.

Instead of cool there was heat, so much heat. Searing his skin at his side, like acid it burned its way into his skin and lingered. It hurt, so so much, and still the burning didn't go away.

Another scream, this one not as familiar as the last one had been.

It wasn't until there was a small prick in his arm that he realized that the scream was his own, and then it didn't matter because the black and numbness came to meet him again.

* * *

><p>Maddie<p>

* * *

><p>I'd never seen anything like his injury.<p>

The shiny table in the Specter Speeder was stained with his blood, which hadn't stopped until just a minute ago when the whole side seemed to crystallize with blue ice. The gash had been ripped open, the already torn skin was mutilated again and this time it was burnt. All the skin that had come in contact with the ghost's metal fist was bright red or black, swollen, and painful to even look at. He breathed evenly now, but that was only a product of the pain killers.

My heart had stopped when his breathing did, the heart monitor –already beeping oddly because of his slow heart rate- had slowed dramatically and I had quit breathing completely. Sam had screamed, something I didn't have the strength to do at the time, only shocked enough to stand and watch as Danny not only woke, but could _feel._

It physically hurt to see him thrash, his strong arms and legs straining against the restraints that had only been used so he didn't roll off of the table, and then he screamed. My blood had run cold and all I could do was quake as he screamed in a voice that would haunt my nightmares 'til the day I would die.

Sam had kept her sense, forcing his arm down and whispering soothing words as she jabbed a needle into his arm, administering whatever pain killer she had. It seemed to work, because within seconds he stilled, breathing easy and body limp, and Sam wiped sweat and what looked like tears from her face.

She had turned to me with those hardened eyes of hers, giving me a nod before coming over to me and hugging me quickly before letting go. She swept a glance from me to Danny and back again before smiling slightly and heading back up to the cab, probably to help Jazz navigate.

How did she stay so calm?

I only had one answer, and it frightened me to the core. She had experience with it. She knew how to handle situations like this because she had been in them before. And, the practiced ease in which she moved proved that it hadn't been a onetime experience either; something like this had happened before. Something had jarred her, made her know that you _can't _lose control those situations.

I had; I had frozen up when it really mattered and hadn't been able to help through my panic. I could feel that bitter taste rise in my mouth when I thought of what might have happened if Sam hadn't been there, or if she hadn't been as calm as she had been. I don't think I could have listened to his shriek much longer without breaking inside.

I took a step closer to the table, looking closely at my son's face.

Dirt and dust covered his whole body, and tear tracks left clean paths down his face in the grime. His eyes flickered under closed lids, and I didn't know if whatever he was dreaming of was good or bad. I wondered what his definition of bad was, and if it even came close to the normal nightmares of regular teenagers.

I felt tears well up at the thought. He had been through so much, and I hadn't been there to help him. He was in pain now, and, even though the blame went a long ways back, it still fell on me. It all fell on me and Jack.

Now Jack knew. He had recognized Danny even before he transformed, and then the change happened right in front of his face. I wondered what he thought about all of this. I knew he would accept him, it was _Danny _for goodness sake, but the shock was hard enough. All our testing about ghosts being evil, about them not having emotions or feelings, all of it was wrong. All our insults about how ghosts were nothing but piles of ectoplasm, of how Jack always said when he found a ghost, in the name of science, he was going to "Rip it apart, molecu-"

Oh, God.

A tear fell, and then another, and I couldn't find the energy to stop them; the obvious reasons of why my son felt he needed to hide from us almost knocked me over. We were the cause of all of it, everything, and now Danny was lying on a medical table with injuries, injuries that had almost killed him healing with powers we had indirectly given him. Injuries that he had gotten saving Jack from an enemy he wouldn't have had if it hadn't been for us.

I reached over and grabbed his pale hand, almost flinching at the coolness of it.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered, letting the shock and information of the last night really sink in for the first time, tears slipping onto my hand as I held his.

* * *

><p>AN- I would say I have no idea where this came from, but I would be lying to you. This has been coming for a while, actually. Because no one, and I do mean no one, has their lives that scrambled and twisted around and not have some sort of realization that comes with it. No one. Jack has one coming too, but I don't think his is going to be anywhere near this angsty.

And, I'm sorry it's taken me forever to post. =\ Blame life. I know, it's been like, *checks date and scratches neck nervously* a while... Sorry!

And, honestly, this stories coming to a close. This chapter is definitely one of the last ones. I'm not going of twenty chapters with this. It will have an epilogue, but I'm not doing a sequel. You guys will just have to look forward to the next chapter story I've got planned. =]

Tell me what you think, maybe in a review?


	18. Proud

A/N- Here is Jack's chapter. I hope you enjoy this little insight into his mind.

This is also the last chapter. There will be an epilogue, that I promise, but this is the last of the main chapters.

I want to say thank you at everyone that is reading this, has read this story, has reviewed, faved, alerted, whatever, I want to say thank you. You really have no idea how great you guys are. =]

* * *

><p>I want to give a HUGE thanks to IceDragon19, Pheek, and KagomeKritin for being amazing Beta's.<p>

* * *

><p>Jack<p>

* * *

><p>I… honestly don't know what to think.<p>

For all of my life I've thought and learned that _all _ghosts are evil. I've lived my whole life thinking that every single one of them was just a manifestation of putrid ectoplasm or that they were all out to take over the world with their evil plans. I went to college to learn to stop them, to protect my family and the other innocents from the wrath of the evil spooks. I had hoped for years to capture one, to examine so I could better grasp _why_ they were what they were and did what they did. I _needed _to protect my family, my kids, from the evil manifestations.

One night. That was all it took to flip my thinking and beliefs upside down and then disassemble them. One night had changed my thinking on _everything. _

He was my son, my boy. How could I think of him as evil, as just a ghost?

I couldn't, and that's what I had always done before.

I'd never allowed my research to get to me, for it to become an obsession. I had tried to keep all my information and research at an arm's length, acting the way I did so that I wouldn't concentrate on my work all the time. I had never let a ghost or being become close when I worked with it like that. It's always so much easier to think of something as undeniably evil when you have no true idea about it, when it's just a ghost.

But now the circumstances were different, completely and ineffably different. He's my son! It doesn't get much more personal than that.

He's not evil; I know that for a fact. He can't be evil, he's _Danny. _

But, he's also Danny Phantom. I honestly don't know what to think about that.

I suppose I should be mad that he lied to us for so long, the untruths going on for the past two years now. But, really, should he have had to? Shouldn't I have noticed the changes in my son? Should I even entertain the thought of being mad that he, a half ghost, didn't tell his parents, ghost hunters, what he was?

No. Not at all.

Oh, I'm angry, but it's not at him. The anger that I know is bubbling is directed straight back at me, and it's because I should've known. I should have seen that there was something wrong in my son's life. I should have noticed the cuts and bruises weren't just from being a klutz. I should have known that those failing grades were anything but my son just being lazy. I should have known, maybe not all of the details at first, but at least that something was up.

And, when I do entertain the thought of actually feeling _anything _on the matter, I don't get anger. I'm proud. He's a hero, plain and simple. It took me long enough to realize it, but he is; even if he hadn't been my son I would have called him a hero. Sure, he's had slip ups, and for some reason I can't help but think there's an explanation waiting somewhere for those, but everyone makes mistakes.

I'm proud of him. He's a hero. Danny Phantom, Danny Fenton, my son, is a hero. I'm not just proud because he's saved a people, including me, which I'm also proud of, but because he did what's right, not what's easy. He's saved people, the town, even when the people he saved hated him and all he had supporting him were his friends.

And I never even noticed.

I don't realize my hands, and my whole body at this point, are shaking until Jazz slips her small fingers over mine.

"It's going to be okay, Dad," She sounds so sure, so confident, like there never was any other option in the world. Her blue eyes, so like her mother's, dart past me to the door behind us, behind which Danny lays, healing, and her eyes are filled with something I've seen so many times it's crazy I've never realized it before.

There's a confidence there that wasn't there two years ago, and there's also a pride that I saw every time she looked at her baby brother. I never could explain why Jazz had always been so happy to see Danny, crushing him in a hug that said she missed him more than ever and was afraid of losing him, and I had always wondered why.

But now I realize that she's known for a while now about all this, and she's seen something like this before.

And, I believe her. Sam never would have left Danny's side if he wasn't going to heal, so he was going to be fine. My son's going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay.

Yes, Danny's a ghost, but more than that he's a hero, and above that, he's my son. And I'm _proud_ of him.

I attempt a smile and somehow make it not look like a grimace as I look back up at Jazz. "I know."

She just smiles, and I can't help but wonder if she's known all along.

* * *

><p>AN- I hope you guys liked it! Tell me how it was? Maybe in a review?


	19. Home Epilogue

A/N- VERY IMPORTANT A/N AT THE BOTTOM.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer- I don't own Danny Phantom.<p>

* * *

><p>Thanks to IceDragon19, Pheek, and KagomeKritin for betaing for me!<p>

* * *

><p>Third Person<p>

* * *

><p>Jazz leaned back on the metal counter behind her, watching as Danny flew through various obstacles and shot at the targets her mom and dad were throwing in the air for him. She smiled as she watched him, liking the way he isn't as injured as he was just two days ago. She took a breath, smiling, and aimed the speed gun in her hands at her little brother.<p>

215. He's getting better.

"215!" she yells out, and he lets out a yell as he speeds past her again; it sounds like he's smiling.

She smiles as she rests back against the table, watching as her family laughs and shouts and continues with the training. They've done this twice since they got back, once yesterday morning and now today, and she hasn't quite gotten tired of watching them interact. She doesn't think she'll ever get tired of watching Danny smile when he realizes that he's training with his parents and not training against his parents. She doesn't think it'll ever get old for either of them.

She sweeps her red hair out of her face as Danny flies by again, the wind that goes with him ruffling her clothes, and she smiles at the grin on his face. He hasn't really stopped smiling since he woke up; demanding if it had been just a dream, only to be told that, no, it hadn't been. He had laughed out loud at that, throwing his arms around her and hugging her. She hugged him back, and noticed that the tension that normally tightened her brother's shoulders was gone for a moment. She'd laughed with him as he let go of her and just floated there, smiling. She thought his face was going to split from it, but he hadn't stopped smiling.

In all honesty, she hadn't either.

"Jazzy! Throw me the target on that table will you?" That was Jack, watching as Maddie threw her last few targets into the air.

"Sure!" She straightened up and walked over to the other table, looking around the cluttered surface for the small targets.

She brushed her hands over some of the stuff, letting her fingers linger over some of the objects that had memories attached to them.

The beat up thermos sat sideways, lid securely on the top as it rolled under her fingers. The Fenton Anti-Creep Stick had more nicks and scratches than most could count, and she smiled fondly at the thought of her first few weeks helping her brother. Various guns and blasters were scattered around the table, portable shield devices and other things taking up space on the metal counter. The target lay under a rather small gun, almost hidden under the weapon.

She picked up the gun and grabbed the target, only to hear a tiny _thunk _as something fell to the table.

"Danny?" she called picking it up.

It was a metal bug with black, horn like hair on its head and beady red eyes. She heard a whirring sound and the eyes snapped shut, only for them to open again and get larger.

A white gloved hand appeared over her shoulder, taking the bug from her.

She heard him growl, and then watched as he crushed the small bug in his hand. It cracked as he flexed his fingers, and he opened his hand to reveal the useless device.

Miles and miles away, Vlad threw his hands up for the second time in the past few days, a scowl on his face.

He looked at the now static covered screen and narrowed his eyes. "I guess if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself."

He smiled; a cold, harsh smile that would freeze water. "And I have just the right kind of bait to get the job done."

* * *

><p>AN- Yeah... I lied to you... Sorry.

But, good news. There IS going to be a sequel.

See, I went to camp and had this really awesome idea on how to continue this, and, well, you get a sequel. I had all intentions of ending it with Jazz seeing the target burst apart in the air with her family smiling all around her, but that just wasn't as exciting as this. SO, yeah, that's why you have said cliff hanger.

Virtual cookies for whoever can guess what Vlad is talking about! ;)

I also want to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who have read, alerted, faved (the story and me as an author), and reviewed! You guys have no idea how wonderful you are. I love all of you, really, I do, just not in that odd, weird way. =]

Seriously though, you guys are amazing, and I hope to see all of you when I publish the sequel. Cause, you know, you guys are just that awesome.

And, last but most certainly not least, I want to say thank you to IceDragon19, KagomeKritin, and Pheek for Beta-ing this thing. This story wouldn't have been half of what it is without them. =]

Hope to see you soon!

X Sleepyreader13


	20. Sequel

Hey guys! I posted the sequel!

It's called In the Light of Day, for all of you guys who wanted to know.

I just wanted to let you guys know that my updating speed isn't going to be what it should be, but that's because life's throwing a whole lot of stuff at me in the next few months. I'm starting High School, VolleyBall season's starting up again, my aunt's not doing to well, and I'm trying to be in forty different places at once. Sorry, but don't expect a chapter every week. It won't take too long to get stuff up, but it won't be super fast either. =]

I also wanted to thank everyone again for reading this story and making it my most popular story. Thank you guys so much! 

X Sleepy


End file.
